Keeping a well-supplied pantry reduces stress and trips to the store. Pantry items aren’t just stored in a pantry or cupboard but can also be in your refrigerator and freezer. Each family will want to develop their own gourmet pantry, depending on their own particular tastes, needs and wants.
A dose of inspiration makes short work of composing a meal from pantry ingredients. What do you feel like having: pasta, chicken, a certain vegetable? If you have made out your menus and bought items from your recipes, you get to the point that you learn to reach in and pull out items that go together. If you’re out of an item, be flexible, just pick another vegetable or fruit and it will probably work just as well. A well stocked pantry can give you a head start.
WHERE TO START
WHERE TO START
- Beans and other legumes:
These are a healthy addition to any meal. They can go into soups, salads, or stews, served as a side dish or paired with ground beef in chili. Canned beans are very convenient and a good-quality alternative for dry beans.
- Bread Crumbs:
These are good for coating chicken or fish. (I add a little garlic powder and Parmesan cheese with mine sometimes for that extra kick) They add body to frittatas and omelets and a wonderful topping for casseroles. Get into the habit of saving leftover bread in an uncovered container . When it’s hard, just toss it in a blender or food processor and blend. Add your seasoning at the time of use.
- Canned and Dried Fruit:
Not just for snacking and desert, fruits add color, flavor texture and a hefty measure of nutrition to green salads, rice dishes and baked goods.
- Canned Vegetables:
These get a bad rap for being watery and tasteless, but their flavor brightens up with a squirt of lemon juice (add lemon juice to your pantry) Use in casseroles. Canned vegetables need less time cooking then fresh veggies to be fully cooked.
- Canned Soups:
You can just eat it or capitalize on the versatility of this staple. Use it in casseroles, skillet meals and in other soups. It’s hard to store cheese over a long period of time, but a can of cheddar cheese soup can add a comforting flavor to a stew or casserole.
- Cereal and Crackers:
Ground these can fill in nicely for bread when you need a coating for vegetables, fish or beef. On their own they can help hold over appetites in between meals.
- Fish:
You’ll never starve with the old standbys, tuna and salmon, in the pantry. Think outside the sandwich. Flake them into a cold salad; toss them with hot pasta sauce. Make salmon patties. Canned clams can give pasta and soups a boost. Keep a supply of shrimp and your families favorite fish fillets in the freezer.
- Herbs:
Sprinkle them on for a world of flavor. Just remember that a quarter teaspoon of dried herbs equals a full teaspoon of fresh herbs.
- Honey and Maple Syrup:
These can be used to sweeten yogurt and cereals and other breakfast foods and to glaze poultry.
- Oils and Vinegars:
Use these to lend ethnic flair depending on the flavor of oils and vinegars you use.
- Onions:
Few foods lend as much character so easily. What if you run out of fresh onions? Try dry onion. One Tablespoon of dry onion should do the work of ¼ cup chopped onion. Fresh onion is usually call for at the beginning of a recipe, but dried onions can be add toward the end.
- Pasta:
Tomato sauce I traditional dressing, but think white also. A satisfying pasta dressing can be made from butter and grated cheese or olive oil and garlic and a touch of black or red pepper. Nothing fancy but oh, so good.
- Rice:
Hot rice is nice; but so is cold. Use it in room-temperature salads and pilafs, combined with lentils or other legumes and chopped vegetables, fresh, frozen or canned. (I love black beans and rice) Try several different types of rice just for a change of pace.
- Salad Ingredients:
So, you have a little romaine and spinach in the fridge. Toss them together and add some texture with canned or fresh fruit, raisins or other dried fruits and a sprinkling of sesame seeds or nuts. Or toss with drained canned beans and marinated artichoke hearts. Cheese in the fridge? Shave some over the top and be as artistic as you can.
- Stock:
A splash of broth gives dishes that extra little boost. Combine chicken, beef or vegetable broth with tomatoes and a medley of vegetables or canned beans and you’ll have an instant soup. Use it to cook your rice in instead of water.
- Tomatoes:
Canned tomatoes are exceptionally versatile. They make quick sauces and add color and taste to soups, stews and side dishes. Season at will for a world of flavor.
Source: Mary Sue Hamilton
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