I make it a practice never to cook without spices of some kind. That is because I simply cannot tolerate a dish that is blah and bland.

While I sometimes make my own spice blends, every once and a while I turn to an outstanding product that is already on the market. One of my favorites of all time is Tony Chachere's Spice N' Herbs Seasoning.

I love this spice blend because it works well with just about any type of food you can imagine. The one exception, of course, might be desserts. However, even a few of those can …