Whenever a quick dinner comes together, you often reach for the simplest preparations…. a few sautéed vegetables, burgers on the cast iron, whatever. Instead of trying to prepare a new spice rub every time, we’ve found that the old standards can include a house blend that you can just add to anything to quickly whip up a taste of home.
Make a quantity of this and then keep it in a covered shaker next to the stove, adding it to vegetables, meats, roasts, whether you want to add some snazz without thinking too hard about it. This one is heavily cumin based, but come up with your own! The trick is to add salt and umami (onion powder here) and then heavily feature one flavor (cumin, here) so it doesn’t just taste like an random blend.
4 parts cumin powder
4 parts onion powder
2 parts paprika
2 parts salt
1 part granulated garlic
Mix together spices. Store in a covered shaker next to the stove. Add to anything.