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I love ginger, both fresh and dried. It add a robust, but sometimes subtle flavor to a wide variety of recipes, from cookies to sauces. While ginger delivers a satisfying spice to cooking, it is also often used in traditional means of medicine.

When purchasing young ginger at the local grocery store, you will encounter a fragrant, fleshy, juicy, pungent root that supplies a mild taste packed with spice. Mature ginger possesses a great deal of fiber and is dry, which creates a spicier taste than younger samples. Today, an increasing amount of cooks are using ginger to enhance the nutritional value of their dishes.
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My memories of Thanksgiving, which happens in the U.S. next week, are infused with the scent of herbs and spices, expertly used by my grandmother. The use of herbs (such as oregano, thyme and marjoram) and spices (such as ginger, paprika and chile) is a very common technique cooks depend on to expand upon the taste, flavor and afterthought of a dish. In this post, I provide a few suggestions on how to best use herbs and spices when preparing meals and following a recipe. These may help you create unique and tasty meals with your Thanksgiving leftovers.

Substituting Dried Herbs for Fresh Herbs

Since dried herbs possess a stronger flavor than fresh leaf herbs, you will need to adjust your habits when adding dried herbs to a recipe that calls for fresh herbs. Simply substitute 1/3 of the amount to adjust the strength in taste. You don’t want your final results to carry an overpowering favor. Also, there are some dishes that just require fresh — those whose main ingredient is an herb just don’t taste right when made with dried herbs.
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