Middle Eastern Inspired Spice Mix
This Middle Eastern Inspired Spice Mix will give everyday ingredients an interesting flavour and can be adapted to many dietary requirements. I am sure you have a collection of spices in your cupboard—purchased for a specific recipe and then left forgotten on the shelf or in your spice drawer. This recipe is the perfect way to put those spices to good use, adding a wonderful deep flavour to your chosen protein or vegetables.
This spice mix is versatile, sprinkle a little of the mix over your ingredients and rub in some olive oil and grill, fry, bake or BBQ and enjoy. Serve your chosen ingredients in a pita pocket, over rice or bulgur wheat, and top with a simple red onion and tomato salad (without the salad dressing) and a handful of chopped parsley and a generous dollop of tahini yogurt sauce.
Spice Mix Uses:
Vegetables Sprinkle the spice mix over your vegetables, such as portobello mushrooms, aubergine (eggplant), courgette (zucchini), or peppers. Add a glug of olive oil and generously coat the vegetables evenly in the spice mix. Roast, grill, or pan-fry the vegetables until tender and slightly charred.
Proteins Chicken (breast, thighs, or drumsticks), Beef (rump, sirloin, bavette or skirt steak), Lamb steaks or shoulder cubed, Tofu or Tempeh.
Cooking Methods:
Grilled or Roasted Proteins: Grill or roast the spiced protein adding a little olive olive to the spice mix, until cooked through, with a golden, crispy exterior.
Pan-Fried or BBQ Proteins: Pan-fry the marinated protein adding a little olive olive to the spice mix and cook over medium-high heat until browned and cooked through.
Vegetable Cooking: For vegetables, adding a little olive olive to the spice mix you can roast them in the oven at 200°C until golden and tender, or grill them until soft and slightly charred.
- 2 level teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 level teaspoons ground allspice
- 2 level teaspoons sweet paprika
- 1 level teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 level teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 level teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- In a bowl, combine all the dry spice ingredients.
- Stir until evenly blended.
- Apply the Spice Mix to your chosen vegetables or protein.
- Store any unused spice mix in a small lidded glass jar in a cool, dark cupboard.
- The spice mix will cover 800g of ingredients.
