Are you looking for tasty ways to eliminate salt from your diet? Or are you just looking to add more interesting flavors to your food?

Herbs and spices are a fun and healthy way to “spice” things up in the kitchen.  Not only do herbs and spices add flavor and a variety of tastes to your diet, but evidence suggests that herbs and spices may provide health benefits.

You can create your own spice blends by buying individual spices and putting several together or you can purchase them ready-to-use.  There are some salt-free spice blends that are offered in grocery stores, but for more specific blends you may have to go online or to various ethnic grocery stores.  Many of these stores will also carry larger quantities of spices that will likely be much cheaper than purchasing them at the average grocery store.

Once you purchase your spices, if you are not sure where to start, there are a number of herb and spice charts like this one click here that are available on the internet.  These charts provide basic information about each herb and spice and how to use them.

Now that you have your spices and spice chart, it is time start cooking!  Below is a recipe that can start you off on your journey!

MIDDLE-EASTERN SPICED SALMON KEBABS

Author: Jess Dang

Recipe type: Middle Eastern

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• Skewers – 16
• Salmon – 1½ lbs., cubed
• Lemons – 2, sliced thinly into rounds
• Oregano – ½ tsp.
• Coriander – ½ tsp.
• Za’atar – 1 tsp. (sub thyme)
• Cooking oil – 1 to 2 tbs.
• Dill, fresh – a sprig or two, chopped

Prep

• Skewers – Soak in water.
• Salmon – Rinse and dry fish. Chop into 1″ cubes (It’s OK if some pieces can’t be perfectly cubed. We’ll just fold them over when skewering.). Toss with salt & pepper.
• Lemon – Slice as thinly as possible.
• Spice mix – Mix together oregano, coriander, and za’atar. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)

Make

1. Assemble each kebab with two skewers (When you use just one, ingredients often roll around, making it hard to flip efficiently). Alternate salmon cubes and lemon, folding lemon slice in half. Brush both sides with cooking oil and then sprinkle with spice mixture.
2. Preheat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Add salmon kebabs and sear on both sides for about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove and set aside.
3. Enjoy kebabs with chopped dill. (BTW, you can eat the lemons!)

This recipe is from: http://www.cooksmarts.com/cs-blog/2013/07/me-spiced-salmon-kebabs-recipe/#XzEVIvOmYRGMueLk.99.