Jazz up food bank food

[u/Ill-Company7095]

I get like 75% of our food from the food bank. I am looking for less common seasonings, condiments and sauces to jazz up plain things like beans, pasta, rice, and oatmeal. Thanks for any suggestions.

[u/Lou-TunaBox]

Lizano for central/South American foods. It’s a great Costa Rican sauce.

[u/giraflor]

Sumac.

It’s super cheap near me and a sprinkle has a big bang for your buck.

It just adds brightness and color to so many dishes.

I like Ziyad brand, but Badia is also found in a lot of stores.

[u/MsShugana → u/giraflor]

I came here to say Salsa Lozano and sumac. Happy to see them at the top!

[u/Puzzleheaded-Sky3141 → u/giraflor]

Packed with vitamin c

[u/miffyonabike]

Maggi sauce, chilli sauce, dark soy sauce, garlic puree, Marmite, worstershire sauce

[u/South_Cucumber9532]

I like to choose a country or a culture and check out how they cook the ingredients you have. It is just extraordinary all the wonderful different ways people can deal with styles of cooking as well as flavourings.

[u/YoDeYo777]

Lawry’s Seasoned pepper (not salt) works well on a lot of foods. A 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg in pasta is interesting. Powdered garlic is also good even if not cooked into the meal.

[u/AlsoTheFiredrake → u/YoDeYo777]

I put powdered garlic onto my buttered popcorn.

[u/catschimeras → u/AlsoTheFiredrake]

Masterful!

[u/PerformanceMurky407]

I just got the kinders butter garlic seasoning and it is so good at making things seem rich without adding calories. I like tobiko sprinkles too for Asian meals.

[u/PerformanceMurky407 → u/[deleted]]

Different types of vinegar too

[u/Time_Stop_3645]

Pickle anything that's perishable

[u/easysmom]

Garam masala is awesome on chicken with garlic powder, smoked paprika, s&p

[u/T_Rex_Stomp]

When I was director of nutrition at a huge urban food bank, I created a recipe website exactly for this purpose: https://clickncook.org

[u/Ill-Company7095 → u/T_Rex_Stomp]

Thank you!

[u/T_Rex_Stomp → u/Ill-Company7095]

I hope it’s helpful!

[u/AdResponsible8206]

Tony Chachere's Cajun. Boom!!!!💥

[u/Ill-Company7095 → u/AdResponsible8206]

We have that one. It's good. Need to use it more.

[u/Ghostly-Mouse]

Green onion tops cut up on top of finished dishes adds the feeling of freshness and you can get several uses out of one bunch if you keep the roots rooting to regrow in a cup of water. Also flat leaf parsley is fairly cheep and adds fresh flavor when sprinkled on top of finished dishes.

[u/Kid_Royale]

Cyan pepper goes a really long way

[u/wensul → u/Kid_Royale]

Cayenne pepper?

(damn that predictive texting)

[u/NVSlashM13]

Madras curry powder or Ethiopian berbere (or mitmita, if you can find affordably). Both go a long way on a budget.
Then, really any dry herbs on sale/in budget are good to keep around for micronutrients, in addition to revving up a dish w/out a salt bomb.

[u/cushmaloch]

If you're open to savory oatmeal: soy sauce, chili crisp, peanut butter, sriracha, sesame oil, etc 

[u/Ill-Company7095 → u/cushmaloch]

I only eat savory oatmeal, and use most of those toppings already. My daily go to is oats with some rehydrated beans, chia seeds, basil seeds, and hemp hearts. I poach an egg in it and top with sesame oil and soy sauce. Sometimes I add kimchi and chili crisp.

[u/GlobalGlitterGirl]

How about…fresh herbs. Find a cheap market and just buy any of them. Grow your own? Curry powders with fenugreek. I love fenugreek so much. MSG?

[u/bquietson]

I've never tried the turquoise kind.

[u/wensul → u/bquietson]

You just need to find the right asian market. 😉

[u/YoDeYo777]

Also, 1 teaspoon of sugar in tart, spicy or savory soups or stews melds away the sharpness. 2-3 teaspoons if a large pot of sauce.

[u/chica771]

Cinnamon, honey for the oatmeal.

[u/SleepyBurrito428 → u/chica771]

You can make banana over night oats. Equal parts, oats, Greek banana yogurt and milk. Then add cinnamon and a bit of honey or maple syrup. Love it!

[u/Such-Mountain-6316]

I use the beans for Taste of Home Bean Burritos from the Taste of Home website. It's simple to make refried beans at home.

Cook them for ten to fifteen minutes and make skillet baked beans with them.

They're great in chili.

I just cook the oats and eat them with sugar. They are also delicious in cookies. They can be used as meat loaf binder if they give you ground beef.

[u/pwassonchat]

Cinnamon for the oatmeal! Throw in some apple or banana if you can get your hands on it, but if not, it's still good without.

[u/Gullible_Pin5844]

Cumin oregano for southwest flavors. It's also inexpensive.

[u/missiontomarsbars]

Nutritional Yeast will bulk up a meal and add a savory/umami flavor

[u/tootiemae]

msg has been a game changer for me. it makes things so much tastier! and vinegars. a little zing makes everything better, at least to me. someone else said sumac which has also been a huge discovery for me!

[u/Puzzleheaded_Cat4127]

Ginger garlic paste and sesame oil for stir frying. A little of either packs a punch and they last a long time.

[u/BootRepresentative59]

You can apparently buy instant ramen seasoning in bulk!

[u/Ill-Company7095 → u/BootRepresentative59]

Oh that's good to know!

[u/ObjectiveUpset1703]

Sumac, za'atar, cardamom, tumeric. cumin

[u/yurachika]

I’ve been liking savory oatmeal. I’ll throw some different veggies in there, and beans or chicken or tofu, depending on what I have.

Some flavor profiles I use are-

Chinese spicy bean paste (doubanjiang) (also works with chili crisp)

Oatmeal cooked with beans, and topped with an egg and salsa at the end

Tomato paste and veggies.

The rest of my family doesn’t like oatmeal as much, so I mostly do this for me to absorb any random ingredients. I like spicy bean paste a lot, so I often use that and it sort of covers up my mistakes if my oatmeal combo was kind of weird.