Emily Stephenson - Pantry to Plate: Kitchen Staples for Simple and Easy Cooking

My favorite part of any cookbook is the pantry section. Whenever I get a new one (which is often), Ill start reading the ingredients section first, ready to get lost in the authors idea of whats delicious, whats important to keep around, and whats absolutely necessary to make a good meal in their mind.

Ill fantasize about living the kind of life where just whipping something up for unannounced guests is something I do. Or how much more exciting my no-longer-hurried weeknight dinners will be now that I have a whole part of my fridge dedicated to condiments from around the world, and cabinets full of spices that I will definitely use up before they go bad.

I like to imagine what its like to have the authors cooking life, one thats so organized and seemingly effortless that the cabinets basically fill themselves.

Obviously, they dont.

Its great to get lost in the escapism that some cookbooks can provide, but one way or another, my pantry needs to be stocked; otherwise, I cant really cook. I could go to the store every day to buy produce and meat, but Id still lack the basic ingredients to turn them into a meal. Lifes too short to only eat steamed or raw food. And its definitely too short for unseasoned food.

A full(-ish) cupboard, refrigerator, and freezer is also a gift to all your future selves: the you who works late and gets home ravenous, or is sick and cant leave the house, or is simply tired from all the things that go on in an average day. It means having everything you need to take care of yourself close at hand. Its being ready for the future, even if the future is just two hours from now when you get home from work.

And even if you dont need to be sold on the idea of keeping at least a minimum amount of food in your kitchen, deciding what exactly makes the cut for your personal pantry can be overwhelming. Novice cooks might not know where to begin, and even experienced ones can stock tons of items and still not be able to make a full meal. You might love Mexican food but have a new favorite cookbook that features Mediterranean flavors. Perhaps you grew up eating the same few dishes on rotation. And some ingredients considered essential to a friend might only get used once a year in your home. All of this means endless options for what to buy and cook, and usually after a long day, we want that dinner decision-making process to be as simple as possible.

So, enter this pantry listfifty cupboard, refrigerator, and freezer ingredients to keep on hand at all times so you can always make a well-balanced mealand seventy filling, delicious, and healthy recipes you can create using just those ingredients. Think of it as a starting point to a more flexible way to cook that doesnt require much mental energy outside of the kitchen.