Asklemmy

When I make my pico de gallo, I use key limes instead of regular limes. Tastes more authentic.

This one’s a bit of a preference and not much an ingredient, but a topping. I tend to put molasses on pancakes over syrup or honey. I still occasionally use maple syrup or honey, but I love the bitterness of molasses.

New Mexico hatch Green chilies on everything.

I do a chicken pizza using tzatziki as the base sauce instead of tomato. Initially I was going to have it on top, but decided to go nuts. With the other Mediterranean ingredients on it, goes deliciously.

A quarter-dash of cinnamon in anything that calls for ground or minced beef. Enhances the savory notes of the rest of your seasonings and broths. (Haven't tried this with pork yet; but considering the existence of molé, I expect it to work with chicken too.)

It's not that wild, but I absolutely LOVE blue cheese in a burger.

Soy sauce makes everything better. If there is some kind of sauce or broth just add a little bit. The extra salt and umami flavor elevate everything. Doesn't matter the cuisine. It goes great in burgers

Dry sherry in tomato sauce, soups, or anything with beef in it.

Balance acidity, that's pretty much how to make every sauce delicious. Per OP's suggestion, that free glutamate punch also helps.

Ground fennel seed.

People use it for chicken, fish and broth and it's great in all of them but it realy shines in salads.

I used to be just like you, not really liking salads. They were always just a side dish or something to eat when I wanted to be "healthy". But that changed when I started adding fennel seed.

Now, whenever I make salad I start by adding a ton of FS, think "shit, I added too much", sit down to eat it only to get back up amd add more.

Other than MSG - garlic powder, lemon pepper, paprika, and gochugaru. Almost everything I cook has those 4 put in, with only the lemon pepper reduced if citrus is not part of the dish.

Almost all of my barbecue rubs have black garlic salt/pepper. Make it myself.