The Essential Plant-Based Pantry Concept
Here’s what you get with The Essential Plant-Based Pantry:
A list—With The Essential Plant-Based Pantry ingredient list, page 6, you can stock your pantry ahead of time. This list contains dry goods, some refrigerated items, and a few frozen foods.
A set of recipes—The Essential Plant-Based Pantry contains over sixty recipes that use only Essential Plant-Based Pantry ingredients.
A guarantee—The ingredients listed in this book can be purchased at a well-stocked supermarket, and all ingredients are used more than once.
A promise—All you do is buy the fresh ingredients and restock the dry goods as you use them.
A change in attitude—The Essential Plant-Based Pantry just might change the way you think and feel about cooking when you realize that you already have everything you need in order to cook a meal.
Why should you invest in The Essential Plant-Based Pantry concept? Or in this book? Let’s just say that with this book you can make your pantry smaller and more efficient. With this book, you can create recipes knowing that you have the ingredients in your pantry. And, you need this book if you are a home cook or organizing buff who wants to:
• Prepare more meat-, egg-, and dairy-free meals at home
• Select from your choice of gluten-free recipes as well
• Find what you need in one trip to the supermarket
• Avoid multiple trips to specialty stores to shop for ingredients you only use once
• Avoid subscribing to a meal-kit service
• Overhaul your cluttered pantry
• Create a well-organized pantry with useful ingredients
• Prepare meals with real ingredients
• Stock the pantry in your boat, condo, RV, travel trailer, or tiny house with limited ingredients
The Essential Plant-Based Pantry Ingredient List
Who doesn’t love a stocked pantry, a designated area in your kitchen filled with ingredients for meal preparation? Officially defined as a small room or closet in which food, dishes, or utensils are kept, pantries are popular in kitchens of all sizes. Kitchen designers report that a pantry is almost always a consideration in kitchen design because everyone wants a place to store dry goods. But what they really want is a pantry that serves them, where they know they have on hand the dry goods they need to cook.
This plant-based ingredient list contains everything you need to make every recipe in this book. Some ingredients are used more than others, and in some ways, I feel like I’ve just scratched the recipes that can be created with these ingredients. Consider this book a good place to start, and then let our imagination guide the rest of the journey with your pantry.
basil, dried
cardamom, ground
cayenne pepper
chili powder
cinnamon, ground
coriander, ground
cumin, ground
curry powder
dill weed, dried
garlic powder
ginger, powdered
onion powder
oregano, dried
pepper, black peppercorns for grinding
red pepper flakes
salt, kosher
smoked paprika
thyme, dried
turmeric, ground
Dry Goods
beans, dry black, chickpeas, kidney, red, great northern (if not using canned)
barley, pearl
cocoa powder, unsweetened
cranberries, dried
flour, all-purpose
lentils, brown
lentils, red
nuts, raw cashews
nuts, sliced almonds
nuts, walnuts
oats, old-fashioned
pasta, spaghetti, linguine, fettuccine, rotini, penne
quinoa
raisins, golden
rice, basmati
rice, brown
seeds, pumpkin
sugar, light brown
sugar, white
wheat berries
Canned or Bottled Foods
beans, black beans
beans, chickpeas
beans, kidney
beans, red beans
beans, great northern
broth, vegetable
capers
chipotle in adobo
chiles, green chopped
coconut milk
honey
hot sauce, Frank’s RedHot
mustard, Dijon
oil, canola or other vegetable oil
oil, olive
oil, toasted sesame
olives, green pitted
olives, Kalamata pitted
peanut butter
red peppers, roasted
sriracha
tahini
tamari or reduced-sodium soy sauce
tomato paste
tomato sauce
tomatoes, crushed
tomatoes, diced fire-roasted
vinegar, apple cider
vinegar, red wine
wine, red
Nondairy Refrigerated
milk, almond or cashew
tofu, extra-firm
tofu, silken
tempeh
Frozen
edamame, shelled
corn, frozen
The Essential Plant-Based Pantry Makover
1. Familiarize yourself with The Essential Pantry ingredient list, page 6.
2. Start fresh with a pantry overhaul.
a. Empty your pantry of everything.
b. Throw away old spices and herbs.
c. Wipe off the shelving.
d. Vacuum the floor and the corners.
e. Compare what you have to The Essential Plant-Based Pantry ingredient list.
f. Mark any ingredients you need to buy.
g. Buy any dry goods you need.
h. Restock your Essential Plant-Based Pantry ingredients.
3. Post The Essential Plant-Based Pantry ingredient list on your refrigerator.
4. Plan your week and identify the recipe(s) you want to make.
5. Buy the fresh produce.
6. Prepare the recipes as planned.
7. Note on The Essential Plant-Based Pantry ingredient list any dry goods you’re out of or low on.
8. Buy pantry items the next time you buy the fresh items to keep your pantry stocked and ready to roll.
The Essential Plant-Based Pantry Menus
I think it’s nice to provide combinations of food for meals, so here’s my best shot at giving you some suggestions. I also make menu suggestions in the recipe’s headnotes, so be sure to read the recipe introductions for more ideas.
Fettuccine Cashew Alfredo
Sesame Honey Brussels Sprouts
Fried Tofu
Tomato Curry Sauce
Mediterranean Salad
Moroccan Tempeh
Cardamom Carrots
Bean Salad with Lime Vinaigrette
Tofu Shakshuka
Cooked Wheat Berries
Apple Celery Salad
Curry Coconut Chickpeas
Spiced Rice Pilaf
Cardamom Carrots
Tomato White Bean Soup
Tofu Egg Salad Sandwiches
Pan-Roasted Tomato Sauce
Whole-Grain Penne Pasta
Baby Spinach with Fresh Herb Vinaigrette
Cashew Cream of Broccoli Soup
Sweet Spicy Chickpea Salad
Cincinnati Lentil Chili
Mediterranean Salad
Spicy Marinara Sauce
Whole-Grain Spaghetti
Spring Greens with Fresh Herb Vinaigrette
Barbecue Lentils
Napa Cabbage Slaw with Sriracha Peanut Sauce
Mac and No Cheese
Refrigerator Pickles
Summer Linguine
Vietnamese Spring Roll Salad with Sweet Chile Vinaigrette
Curried Red Lentil Soup
Skillet Tofu Hash
Sriracha Plant-Based Mayonnaise
Apple and Celery Salad
Kale Salad
Fried Tofu
Barbecue Sauce
Napa Cabbage Slaw with Sriracha Peanut Sauce
Sweet Potato and Onion Hash Browns
Fried Tofu
Barbecue Sauce
Edamame Succotash
Kale Salad
Kidney Bean Burgers
Kale Salad
Mac and No Cheese
Lentil Barley Soup
Tofu Eggless Salad
Refrigerator Pickles
Vegetable Curry with Rice
Napa Cabbage Slaw with Sriracha Peanut Sauce
Vegetable Kale Soup
Barbecue Lentils (sandwich)
Refrigerator Pickles
Creamy Chickpea Marinara
Whole-Grain Penne or Rigatoni
Carrot Golden Raisin Salad
Using The Essential Plant-Based Pantry Recipes
Other than practice, a complimentary path to becoming a better cook is to pay attention to your selection of ingredients. Even with a stocked pantry, I believe that the use of some fresh herbs over dry, fresh citrus juice over bottled, fresh garlic when appropriate, freshly ground black pepper and kosher salt to taste, and the careful use of cayenne pepper or hot sauce go a long way in making a cook a better cook. Here are some tips:
• Buy the highest quality ingredients you can buy for the dollar.
• Read the recipe in its entirety before embarking on the cooking process. I sometimes bury tips and suggestions in the headnotes, so don’t skip those.
• Chop and measure ingredients first, so everything is in its place before the cooking begins.
• Taste the food as the recipe proceeds. This will help you adjust salt and pepper as you go along.
• Most recipes recommend a quantity of salt and pepper to use. In the end, season food to suit your personal taste and preference, as that preference may not match my preference.
• Salt—In the testing of these recipes, I used kosher salt. If you use standard table salt when you cook, you should start using less salt than is called for in the recipes.
• Fresh herbs—When I finish dishes with herbs, I prefer to use fresh. Parsley, mint, cilantro, rosemary, and basil are fresh herbs I most commonly use. Dried versions of these herbs aren’t as good as fresh for finishing. Fresh always looks prettier and tastes fresher.
• Lemon and lime juice—There’s no doubt, fresh lemon and lime juice are my choices for all recipes. I keep lemons in the refrigerator, so I have them on hand to use in cooking. They are one simple ingredient with unlimited potential to brighten up a pot of soup, a pie filling, or fresh, homemade vinaigrette.
• Pasta—I use a variety of dry pasta shapes in both traditional- and whole-grain, or legume-based styles. Of course, the use of whole-grain or even gluten-free pasta is a personal choice, so any pasta of your choice should work well, including those that are based on grains other than flour.
• Black pepper—Freshly ground black pepper is the pepper of choice for all recipes. Season to taste, as everyone has a different tolerance for black pepper.
• Olive oil—I generally use a nice, store-bought olive oil to cook with and don’t spend the extra dollars on a high-end extra virgin for cooking.
Gluten-Free Recipes
Recipes marked with the gluten-free tag are free of gluten-containing or possible-gluten-containing ingredients, such as pasta, bread, all-purpose flour, tamari, oats, or barley. This tag is intended to assist those who choose gluten-free meals and recipes. For those with medically diagnosed gluten sensitivity, or celiac disease, it is recommended that you follow prescribed medical nutrition therapy guidelines. Cross-contamination can occur in processing plants with ingredients that are inherently gluten-free. Use your best judgment about cross-contamination, or extreme sensitivity, as the recipes tagged “gluten-free” here are is not medical advice.
