That is honestly a question I have. Using only salt and pepper, is a huge missed opportunity to add flavor to your food. Never miss that opportunity. You have a real chance to kick your flavor up a notch in a very affordable way. I can’t think of a time that I have ever used only salt and pepper to season food. Even when I was a young child and just learning my way around a kitchen.
Albeit, I have matured a little since the days that I could barely reach the stove knobs. I’ve matured but only in a sense that I now toast my spices, make my own spice blends, and understand flavor profiles. Yet, I still will not rely on salt and pepper alone.
What I do use frequently is a blend of salt, pepper and garlic powder. I keep a small container of that next to the stove and put it in everything from eggs, sausage and fish to steak, roasts and vegetables.
That mixture of salt pepper and garlic powder is the minimum of seasoning I will use. Many times I will use that as a base and add to it: onion powder, white pepper, paprika, parsley, cayenne- to make it my creole blend. Dill, marjoram, oregano, fresh garlic and lemon zest for Mediterranean. Cumin, ancho, cayenne and paprika for Mexican. You get the picture, keeping these 3 basic seasonings together on hand, gives me a base to build from and/or use alone.
The blend I use is simple, it’s just 2 parts coarse ground black pepper, 2 parts fine ground black pepper, 1 part sea salt, 1 part garlic powder. It takes me 20 seconds to make; but, saves me more time than I could calculate in the long run.
To grind down the pepper corn I use a coffee grinder, then put everything together in a small prep bowl. When I’m making it into a blend with other spices, I’ll add it all into a mortar and pestle and grind it to get all of the flavors mixed together. This method works great when adding fresh garlic and herbs. It helps create a paste that is really flavor packed and easy to cook into your food. the paste and freshly ground herbs release more flavor than any pre-made blend. The fresh cuts into the spice helps it to release more oils when heat is applied. The more surface area of the paste does the same. Not to mention, fresh ingredients will always give you more flavor than dried herbs and spices. It’s just a complex feature and layer of flavor that you can’t replicate.
Give it a shot and see what you think.