Tip of the Day: 3 magical ingredients

All you need to make so many dishes taste delicious (that kinda rhymed)…olive oil, Kosher salt, and freshly ground pepper. That’s it. This magical combination makes any meat taste good on the grill, makes veggies roast/grill to perfection, and they are relatively inexpensive. You might ask if you HAVE to use Kosher salt? Well, I always do. My fav cook—Alton Brown (aaaaahhhhh…we’re not worthy) uses it for cooking and baking…and I’ve followed his advice for about 5 years now and will not go back to using table salt. Kosher salt gives you “sprinkle” control and you can actually SEE how much is on the food you are preparing because the grains are much larger than table salt. Also, Kosher salt lends a nice salt flavor without being too salty. If you see the comparison of 1 tsp. of Kosher salt to 1 tsp. of table salt…you are using much more table salt.

Of all the ingredients, the olive oil is obviously the most expensive. I stick to using olive oil from Italy…and there are many brands that give you this option. Trader Joe’s has a nice olive oil for about $4 that is from Italy and Costco kicks butt with a 1 liter bottle for around $13. I have a pretty, glass bottle with a pouring spout on it that I keep a smaller portion of olive oil in. This serves 2 functions…gives you more control with the spout than pouring from a giant bottle and refilling it with olive oil you buy in bulk it is less expensive (as long as you use it fairly quickly) than buying more of the smaller bottles. I see many t.v. chefs using their thumb to partially obstruct the bottle opening…and I think that is not very appetizing…so buy a $3 glass bottle with a skinny pour spout  (and, you’ll find you use less olive oil, which is healthier).

I also turn to Costco for my pepper needs…I have been too cheap up to this point to buy a nice pepper grinder (gift idea!) , so I buy the disposable pepper grinder for under $4.

So, go grill/roast/saute with these 3 wonderful ingredients of olive oil, Kosher salt, and fresh ground pepper. Your heart will also thank you for the heart healthy benefits of the lovely olive oil.