Feed Me! – Stocking up

If you’re going to have any chance in hell of putting together a decent meal when you come home from work tired, hungry and cranky, you had best stock your pantry wisely. I was inspired by this article by Mark Bittman at the New York Times last month to restock my woeful, bare cupboard, and man, what a difference! Instead of poking around the corners of my echoing refrigerator and shaking the last grains of couscous from a two-year-old box when I was inspired to cook, I now have the staples I need to feed myself, even when I don’t have time to shop.  More on setting up your pantry after the jump.

In some respects, the need for a pantry is obvious. If we had to go to the grocery store to buy every ingredient we need to cook a meal, cooking would be an all day affair. Having common nonperishables near at hand allows for creativity and spontaneity and frees the cook from the four corners of the recipe card.

Setting up your pantry is a very personal matter. Our own Isabelle wrote recently on setting up her kitchen, and I’m sure she’ll have new ideas as she develops her cooking style. 101cookbooks’ Heidi Swanson writes about her natural foods pantry. I’m sure you have your own go-to items that make cooking easier.

For me, a few must-haves come to mind:

• onions
• garlic
• carrots and celery
• canned tomatoes
• frozen veggies (particularly spinach, broccoli and edamame)
• quick cooking grains, like couscous, bulgur and quinoa
• pasta
• Better than Bullion, which is far tastier than most canned broths
• canned tuna
• canned garbanzo beans and black beans
• tofu in aseptic packaging
• dried lentils and split peas (which cook in a flash)
• oils (olive and canola)
• vinegars (sherry, white balsamic, cider, seasoned rice)
• bottled lemon juice (yes, fresh lemons are better, but when you only cook once a week, they spoil!)
• soy sauce
• Chinese cooking wine
• red and white wine
• tomato paste in a tube
• tasty dried herbs (oregano, rosemary, thyme and dill)
• favorite spices (for me, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cloves and cayenne pepper)
• olives
• capers
• nuts (like almonds, walnuts and pine nuts)
• Parmesan cheese

This list is anything but exhaustive, but even these foods are versatile.  With just these items, I can throw together a pasta dish with spinach, tuna, capers and pine nuts, seasoned with lemon juice, olive oil and Parmesan cheese, make a tofu and broccoli stir fry to serve over bulgur or quinoa, or throw together a quick lentil soup, all without running out to the store. And my horizons widen exponentially if I stop at the market for fresh veggies and meat. Add some ground turkey and some bell peppers to your canned beans, tomatoes and spices, and you have the fixings for a quick chili. Buy some chicken thighs, peppers and squash, and you have what it takes to make a mean chicken cacciatore.

Given my lifestyle, my cupboards are heavy on “convenience” foods–unprocessed foods that cook relatively quickly but still taste like something. What staples are indispensible in your pantry?

Clacked by Molly B.
on Feb 03, 2009 @ 14:00 EST5EDT