Use different spices to add excitement to
your favorite dishes, like these Cinnamon-
Jerk Pork Chops. Photo and recipe
courtesy McCormick.com.

These recipes are popular for a reason: They’re tasty and easy to make. Take pork chops, for example. You can quickly season them with salt, pepper and maybe some garlic or onion salt, then broil and serve.

Or, you could make them more special with a mix of seasonings that includes allspice, chipotle, cinnamon, grated lime peel and thyme: the delicious recipe in the photo above.

Low In Calories, High In Antioxidants

In addition to flavor, there are two important reasons to season your food with spices instead of fat-laden sauces, grated cheese, salt and other less-good-for-you options:

1. Low Calories. Herbs and spices have a negligible amount of calories. An entire teaspoon of most spices and herbs contains fewer than 10 calories. An entire cup of fresh parsley has 22 calories.

2. High Antioxidants. Herbs and spices also add an antioxidant bonus to your recipes. We hasten to add that it’s a small bonus, since the amount of herb or spice consumed is rather small. But the benefit builds up with frequent use.

See the seven highest-antioxidant spices and the highest-antioxidant foods overall.