Add big flavor without big calories.

All of us are striving to cook in a way that’s healthy and simple. Unfortunately, healthy and simple can sometimes add up to bland: A piece of broiled fish all by itself isn’t particularly exciting.


The remedy for the healthy-but-boring dilemma is easy: Stock your pantry with a few strategic items that consistently bring spark to your cooking, without adding significant cost or calories. Start with great basic ingredients, prepare them simply and then add a punch of flavor to really elevate the dish.

In a recent article for SparkPeople.com, No More Bland Diet Food!, I shared a list of five “secret” ingredients that fit the bill:

Read the full article here.

4 thoughts on “Add big flavor without big calories.

  1. thanks for this, bryn! i’m all about making diet-friendly pantry foods, i’ll comb this one for new ideas. one particular use of lemon i swear by now is zesting every one of them before use, and reserving the zest as a seasoning. it brightens up so many dishes and drinks, yet many times we just throw out all the peels and just use the juice.

    • Heather, I love the idea of automatically zesting every lemon and reserving all that lemon zest for future use in recipes. I’m going to start doing that!

    • Hi, Jeff — I didn’t know you had landed at SparkPeople.com. Great! I write for Nicole on a monthly basis about food, recipes and healthy eating, and love it!