I got the inspiration to make my own spice/herb blend from Elina Furhman’s Soupelina’s Soup Cleanse recipe book which sparked my own soup cleanse way back in January. Anyone who reads this blog knows I am still on the soup craze … I just LOVE making soup on the weekend and having dinner (sometimes breakfast and lunch, too) made for most of the week. In her cookbook there is a blend of spices that intrigued me, so I checked around in my huge stash of herbs and spices and happily discovered I had most of the herbs already. So, with a few tweaks of my own, I made this addictive blend. This is so good in soups, cooked grains, and takes baked potatoes or sweet potatoes to a new level of yumminess! Once you assemble all the ingredients it is just a matter of crushing any dried herbs together with the other spices and finding a super cool looking spice jar in which to store it.
I am thinking this might be great for holiday gifts, even though Christmas is 9 months away it’s never too late to start thinking about homemade gifts from the kitchen, right?
Make your own signature blend by adding or omitting anything that sounds good to you.
I only added a pinch of cayenne because I didn’t want “hot” to be the dominant flavor. I LOVE smoked paprika so that is a main ingredient but you could use regular paprika instead. I also grow, harvest and dry lots of herbs from my garden so the thyme, oregano, parsley and basil are super fresh and flavorful. It is so easy to dry your own herbs even with just a few pots of herbs in your windowsill. Then you know they are organic and fresh 🙂
Here is a basic recipe to get you started. This recipe makes about 7 – 8 TBSP so if you want to make some to share double or triple the recipe.
SMOKEY HERB/SPICE BLEND:
2 TBSP smoked paprika
1 TBSP dried thyme
2 TBSP dried basil ( I used equal amounts lemon basil, Thai basil & Genovese basil)
1 TBSP dried oregano
1 tsp dried parsley
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp Pink Himalayan salt (or your favorite salt)
½ tsp ginger
Optional: ground pepper, cumin, nutritional yeast
Crush up the dried herbs in a mortar and pestle or small bowl and your fingers, then add all the other spices. Mix well and store in an airtight container in a dark, cool place.
Sprinkle this into soups, stews, beans, grains and over any kind of potato. Really delicious on baked sweet potato fries. Want… now!
the pollen count 