When we first understood that spices are packed with antioxidants, and that they are an excellent protection against inflammation, we decided to stock our whole kitchen with spices. Dried herbs and spices were put in the spice cabinet and fresh herbs ended up in pots, in the fridge and in the freezer. When we season with cumin, clove, parsley, turmeric, black pepper, oregano, dill, rosemary and cilantro, we add more antioxidants to simple everyday recipes. We were soon able to identify which spices the kids loved the most, and simply added a little bit more of those when we were about to introduce new foods that we suspected they would refuse to try. We give you five of our favorites (super hard to choose, but someone’s gotta do it).

Turmeric By now you must know that we love turmeric. In shots, stews, and in our golden milk. It’s strongly anti-inflammatory, and every week we experiment by adding some turmeric to new vegetarian dishes. We eat both fresh turmeric root and the ground spice, even though the fresh one has a tendency to stain eeeverything. Yummy!

Ginger Can you favor one spice over another? Yes, you can. This is our favorite. Preferably fresh in a green smoothie or chopped in a cup of tea. Or ground ginger in home made seasonings (delicious in a mixture of turmeric, cinnamon and cardamom). Heavenly peppery and anti-inflammatory!

Ceylon cinnamon You’ll be amazed by how something that tastes like candy can be so healthy.  Our children and we love to add some cinnamon to our banana porridge, the fruit salad and the pastries. If you eat a lot of cinnamon, it’s wise to go for the one named ceylon cinnamon – you’ll find it in well-supplied grocery stores. “Ordinary” cinnamon has high levels of a substance called coumarin, known to cause liver damage if taken in high doses.  Some ordinary cinnamon now and then is not to be worried about, but if you, like we do, eat a lot of cinnamon, make sure you buy ceylon.

Thyme + oregano This is a really good combo that we use a lot. Magical in a warm tomato sauce, and just as good in a basic vinaigrette. Close your eyes and try to imagine some nice cold-pressed olive oil, a couple of drops of vinegar, perhaps a teaspoon of mustard, and loads of thyme and oregano. Sooo good… Increases both the nutritional content and the flavor of any salad!

Garlic It’s no longer a pleasant experience to ride the elevator with us.  And it’s not unusual that we shovel 2 or 3 raw cloves of garlic into our mouths right before a meeting. Garlic goes with everything – guacamole, lentil soup and hummus – but when it comes to our breaths, we’ve completely lost it. Garlic is highly addictive, and works wonders for your Lukes!

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