Grinding spices before you use them releases the flavor.

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—Cooking with fresh garden herbs is one of the easiest ways to add flavor without loading your meal down with too much salt. But if you're just using leafy herbs, you're ignoring the even more flavorful plant roots and seeds that add zest and heat to your cooking.

While herbs are the leafy, green parts of the plant, spices are the seeds, fruits, roots, or bark. In addition to flavoring your favorite meals, many spices are antioxidants and contain nutritional and medicinal benefits that may not exist in the veggies you're flavoring. For instance, the capsaicin found in hot peppers like cayenne boosts metabolism and improves circulation. Cumin, popular in Indian, Middle Eastern, and Latin cuisines, is a digestive aid. Turmeric, a main ingredient of curry, is an anti-inflammatory, and activates cellular defense mechanisms.

If your spice cabinet is merely a confusing jumble of tiny bottles, here are a few tips on cooking with spices before they lose all their flavor and health benefits:

Tip #1: Grind them up… Spices are best when freshly ground; pre-ground spices often lose potency and flavor when sitting on the shelf. If you don't have a spice grinder, you can pulverize small amounts in a coffee mill when cooking. This time of year, as you prepare to pickle all those garden cucumbers, use lightly crushed spices, such as allspice berries, chiles, cinnamon sticks, cloves, mustard seeds, peppercorns, and coriander seeds to enliven a basic brine for vegetable pickles.

Tip #2: …then heat them up. Spices release their flavors most when heated. Dissolve spices in a hot liquid, such as a clear vegetable or chicken broth, and poach fish or poultry in the flavorful infusion, or allow spices to gently steep in olive oil on low heat for 10 minutes to create a spiced oil to reserve for cooking or marinades. Intensify their flavor by toasting ground spices in a dry sauté pan before using them in a recipe.