TIPS Tuesday: Cutting it With Mustard

Investing in high-quality mustard might seem like a luxury one can ill-afford in tight times. However, the better the mustard...the less one has to use to 'tart' up dressings, sauces, and dips. A caveat is that many mustards contain sugar or wheat flour, or both. Way back in '09, SlashFood (now at HuffPo Food), rated mustards and found Tabasco made the best one--I've not had a chance to check the ingredients label for sugar and flour, so I cannot recommend it...yet.

Mustard's a condiment made from mustard-plant seed (or powdered-seed), so you can construct your own, theoretically--and many do.

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Combined with mayonnaise (sugar-less, please), mustard is a great sauce for fish, cold or hot. Combined with ketchup (sugar-less, we hope), and horseradish, it contributes to a savory cocktail sauce. With dill, olive oil and some wine vinegar of your choice...a lively salad vinaigrette. Food Network's Alton Brown offered up a homemade mustard recipe earlier this year; if you replace the brown-sugar and the 'sweet' in the sweet pickle juice, this could NERC-ready.