When I moved into my 500-square-foot cabin, building custom, open shelves for the tiny kitchen was a top priority. I designed them for exactly how I planned to use the limited space, sketching out what would live on each shelf. That included two 3- by 24-inch shelves where I could stack a set of little canisters holding 50 different spices.

I adhere to Madhur Jaffrey’s view on spices: “If you can put one spice into a pan, you can easily put in ten or even fifteen.” So I happily stored individual canisters of each spice and herb I use regularly and had little interest in premixed blends. But I slowly started to see their value: pickling spices for canning, a version of a favorite restaurant’s Cajun mix, za’atar to sprinkle on just-boiled bagels and popcorn, a friend’s sweet spice blend to replace cinnamon in almost anything.

When my parents asked for easy ways to keep their meals flavorful yet simple, my first thoughts turned to spice blends. Mom knows the value and versatility of individual spices, but aging dulls taste and smell and makes small kitchen tasks more challenging. Topping my list to prepare for her was a simple blend of homegrown, home-dried herbs she could sprinkle on anything. I share it this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon.

Learn more about drying and blending herbs and spices and get the complete recipe for DIY Herb Blend in my column.

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Twice as Tasty

I truly began to enjoy combining spices into premade mixes when I prepared to teach my first Indian spice workshop. Now one of my more popular classes, I found that techniques I take for granted and the mixing and matching of flavors for different effects was eye-opening to many home cooks. When I wrote my pickling cookbook, I tailored many of the recipes to align with one of five spice blends to simplify ingredient lists.

On the blog, I haven’t been as efficient and often write long lists of spices and herbs into recipes. But if you start using a simple blend, like the DIY Herb Blend, in place of the listed dried or fresh herbs, you’ll find you have an immediate shortcut. If replacing fresh herbs, swap in your dried blend for about a third of the total amount.

Here are just a few recipes that would work well with the DIY Herb Blend—or your own variation on it. You can find more in the recipe index.

• Brine-Braised Breakfast Potatoes
• Vinegary Salad Dressing Base
• Three-Bean Salad
• Last-Minute Shrimp Risotto
• Fresh Mixed-Bean Soup
• Sourdough Garlic Knots

You can also learn more about making spice blends in this blog post.

Want more Twice as Tasty recipes? Get my books! Click here to order a personally signed, packaged, and shipped copy of The Complete Guide to Pickling directly from me. I also share tasty ways to use pickles in The Pickled Picnic; it’s only available here.