Recently discovered the wonders of yeasty flakes, never thought to put it in sauces (only sprinkles) so I will give this a go, thanks!

My ultimate sprinkly pasta topping is a mixture of grated cheese, crushed Salted crisps, yeast flakes, fresh basil, hot sauce, and Japanese shichimi.

I don't know about "better", but I've been experimenting with adding bitter chocolate to my indian curries. The thinking being, some masalas are a bit like mole if you squint (yes, I know most moles don't actually contain chocolate). Balancing out the bittersweetness has been challenging, especially given that the tomatoes I can get around here are already quite sweet. It also affects how much lemon juice or amchoor is needed. I'm not quite convinced yet that it's a good idea lol.

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.

Dashi. Makes dishes get a lot of umami.

I find a lot of dishes are just better with oregano.

Sliced watermelon with Tajin spice is the food of the gods.

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

hominy in chili

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.

Add two or three tablespoons of sugar when you're making a batch of salsa, just a tiny hint of sweetness is all it takes~

Salt, butter and garlic. But I have a feeling my secret ingredients aren't all that secret.

Oregano. 🤫 Don’t tell anybody Andy.