The Amazing & Mighty Ginger

By Lauren DeVito
This post is a continuation of our discussion on How Dizzy Pig uses Superfoods.

Heading into the colder months has me bummed. I am 110% a fan of longer days in the sun, warm weather, peach sangria and farm fresh tomatoes! However, as the leaves turn and the sun sets earlier, the one thing I actually do look forward to is the comfort foods that come into season, and slowing down to sit around the table and enjoy a hearty meal (except I swap the Sangria for a nice Pinot Noir.)

As I think about fall foods, I can’t help but think about how part of cold weather cooking includes working in Superfoods that keep us healthy and nourish us to stay well. Ginger is a big player here.

Not only does ginger pair well with year round cooking, it is probably the number one Superfood around. Lucky for you, all of us at Dizzy Pig enjoy ginger and have worked it into some of our best seasonings!

Cooking with Ginger

Ginger can be used fresh, dried, powdered, or juiced. It’s a very common ingredient in recipes.

• Ginger is known for its potent aromatic smell. It can be intimidating to cook with because it is not shy about dominating a recipe if not properly balanced (but don’t worry – balance is our specialty!)
• Asian cuisine has incorporated ginger perfectly into its dishes for hundreds of years.
• Ginger is used in both sweet and savory dishes due to its delicate combo of sweet and peppery.
• When you ask yourself what that slight zing in a dish is, very often it is ginger.

Health Benefits of Ginger

What most people do not realize is that not only is it delicious and exotic, it also has antiviral, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties – that’s a power punch to the immune system!

When I was a kid with a stomachache and I would stay home from school, my mother’s cure was sipping Ginger Ale on the couch while watching “The Price is Right.” At the time I thought Bob Barker was a miracle healer, turns out it was the Ginger!

That’s right. Did you know that:

• Ginger helps with preventing and relieving nausea – pregnant women use ginger to stave off morning sickness, and if you are on a boat or a car ride it will help you keep motion sickness at bay.
• Beyond the stomach, ginger also helps in preventing colds and soothing a sore throat – ginger is high in vitamin C, calcium, zinc, sodium and phosphorus, all of which boost the immune system and help your body fight infections.
• Ginger root helps improve blood sugar and cholesterol as well as inflammation from arthritis.
• For athletes, ginger has been proven to reduce muscle pain and soreness from working out.
• The University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center has found that ginger aids in the destruction of ovarian cancer cells.

It is pretty clear why ginger earns the classification as a superfood. But how do you incorporate it into your food? Well, you came to the right place! At Dizzy Pig, we care about you and want to make it easy for you to use superfoods in your cooking.

Here are some of our options:

Tsunami Spin

There is no possible way that we can chat about ginger and not talk about our Tsunami Spin Asian-infused seasoning. Partially because it is one of my favorite Dizzy Pig seasonings, but also because it has won awards – like, a lot of awards, including those from the Jack Daniels World Championship! I do not lie, it’s that good!Tsunami Spin is an obvious choice for poultry, but I implore you to try it on mushrooms and green beans.

Bonus: Here is a recipe you should try: Orange ginger curry-ish wings. (You’re welcome in advance.)

Happy Nancy

Want to ease into ginger? Happy Nancy is for you! It is a mild seasoning designed for those who do not like heat but still love life and want all the tangy, floral, sweet, rounded flavors that make food delicious. Happy Nancy is also popular with kids as they won’t spit it out and complain that it’s spicy.

Don’t believe me? Here is what our customer, Fred19Flintstone said:

“Everybody liked it. No small feat for my daughters who are my most unforgiving critics! It was very tasty and best of all for me, nobody said, “This is too spicy!” I wonder if he is taking about Pebbles? When you can give your kids the benefits of ginger in a way that they will enjoy, I call that a win-win!

Peking Chinese Style Seasoning

Lastly, let’s talk about Peking. To me, this seasoning is an obvious choice for ginger. Ginger together with star anise are so tied with the smells we think of when we think of Chinese food. The combo, along with turmeric, garlic (both superfoods) and orange peel, basically makes me think that anything cooked with this combo is healthy (don’t quote me on that!)

Peking works beautifully with poultry and seafood, shrimp in particular, but also with dumplings and noodle dishes. It has a medium amount of heat to get things going and keep you coming back for more!

Want to try Peking? Roasted duck is a great idea!

Whatever ails you, ginger can help!
Try incorporating more of it into your life and give your body the key nutrients it needs to work better.

Tag us @dizzypigbbq in your ginger recipes on social media! We are always looking for more ways to weave superfoods into our lives while elevating our dishes to a whole new level.