Dining, Recipes

Recipe: Dry Spice Rubs and Mixes

There’s nothing more indispensable than a simple spice blend of salt and pepper (and garlic powder if you’re in my household) to season every dish: raw, grilled, broiled, roasted, seared, stewed, sauced, you name it.

When it comes to letting quality ingredients–meats and vegetables–shine, simple spice mixtures are usually best. These spice rubs are my go-to when roasting, grilling and smoking healthy.

S&P: Salt & Pepper

  • sea salt or, even better, Himalayan salt
  • fresh cracked black peppercorns

You dropped a hunk o’ change on that choice- or prime-cut of steak! Salt and pepper about 20 minutes before you grill premium quality meats to give the salt a chance to draw out the moisture and intensify the flavor. S&P is so basic yet it’s the best and simplest way to savor grass-fed, free-range, exotic meats and seafood.

Citrus & Herb:

A citrus-y component …

  • orange peel
  • lemon peel
  • lemon or lime basil
  • lemon  or orange thyme
  • lemon balm
  • lemon verbena
  • lemongrass (ground or pounded)

Plus an earthy or woody herb …

  • rosemary
  • oregano or marjoram
  • thyme
  • sage
  • chives
  • basil (non-citrus varieties)

Brightens any veggie, meat or seafood dish, especially if pan-searing, grilling or roasting.  Since I grow many of these herbs in my garden, it’s a great way to take utilize ingredients at its freshest.

GM: Garam Masala

  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 bay leaf (crushed)

While it’s used to season curries and stews in Indian cuisine, garam masala is a versatile spice mix. Works best with any truly bland vegetable, like cauliflower, or protein, like fish. Use it to spice up a baked potato or a grilled avocado. It’s a great way to liven up any dish and give it an antioxidant punch at the same time.

Cajun/Blackening Spice:

  • 2-3 tablespoons paprika
  • 2 tablespoons chili powder
  • 1 tsp red pepper flakes, ground cayenne, or a dash of ghost pepper
  • 1-2 tablespoons garlic powder
  • 1 tablespoon onion powder
  • 1/2 to 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 1 teaspoon basil (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon cumin (optional)
  • 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
  • 1-2 tablespoons brown sugar

I originally created this spice mix for blackening fish, chicken and steaks in butter. But I’ve found that it does extremely well for direct grilling and searing all types of  protein, especially pork belly! Tweak the spice levels by increasing or reducing the amount of cayenne/red pepper. For a really spicy punch, use ghost pepper!

Fitness

Another Extended Fast experiment

Examining my Instagram feed of late would reveal that my diet has been seriously deranged for quite awhile this year. My ambitions started strong early in the year, but quickly fell to the wayside after all our yard projects ended with the onslaught of summer (high temps). I permitted myself full license to eat guilt-free, but that meant an increased intake in sugars and refined carbs–my sweet tooth taking over.

It didn’t help that long fasts had the embarrassing side effects of “explosive BM” that lasted up to 48 hours. Bad, very bad, especially when you’re not in an environment to run to the bathroom every hour. I tried to mitigate the effects using chia seeds in coconut milk, with very limited success.

Short fasts ended too uncomfortably as well, since 3-4 day fasts didn’t seem to help me transition to fat-burning, leading to a spike in hunger post-fast. Weekend binges then psychologically made me ditch my plans, and I was stuck in a perpetual cycle of feasting.

Side note: I made several PRs this year due to a change in weight lifting programming, and no doubt increased calories helped in the gainz department, though I can’t say it’s physically measurable.

As soon as I hit the scale weight of 160lbs last week, I realized I needed to take back control. My clothes were getting tight again, and disappointingly, there was some new wardrobe still sitting in my closet going unworn.

I started what I hope to be a 7-10 day fast on Monday 7/24. As expected, the first 3 days were rough, but I was mentally in a good place. Not sure if it was all the Malaysian and Indonesian food I binged on the weekend prior, but the transition to fat burning seems much smoother.

The apprehension comes as I try to plan how to break my fast without the yucky disruption I experienced before. With DFW Restaurant Week dinner reservations made and my SO’s birthday around the corner, I have to be mindful of how to do this correctly.  I’m reviewing my previous post for ideas.

I do need to remember to monitor my vitals such as BP and blood glucose. I experienced some high BP during days 2 & 3, which leads me to blame caffeine timing and lack of hydration, and now I’m keeping a better eye on it–and taking meds. Blood sugar measurement on Wednesday afternoon was 99.

Things I need to stay on track with:

  1. Monitoring vitals
  2. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate
  3. Avoid stress, get more sleep!
  4. Include psyllium husks in post-fast meal transition
  5. Take advantage of that spike in HGH and build muscle!
  6. Eat low carb or ketogenic after completing fast

I’m on day 5 as of this writing, and I’m looking forward to completing this prolonged fast successfully.

6:50p vitals:

  • blood sugar = 77
  • bp = 122/76
  • weight = 152.8
  • Sleepy