Nuts and seeds
Buy and store: Keep some at room temperature for using within a few months and freeze the rest for a year or more.
Pro tip: Use a surplus to make nut (or seed) butters: Purée in a food processor with salt and spices to taste and to desired consistency; refrigerate up to six months.
Oils and vinegars
Buy and store: Extra-virgin olive oil (for vinaigrettes, drizzling, and low-heat cooking), coconut oil (for baking and roasting), and safflower oil (for high-heat stove-top cooking) will cover your needs; vinegars (red-wine, balsamic or sherry vinegar, and apple cider) are used for dressings and sauces. Keep oils and vinegars away from heat or sunlight.
Pro tip: Toasted sesame oil also adds depth to vin-aigrettes and when drizzled over soups and stir-fries and noodle dishes.
Whole grains
Buy and store: Buy oats, barley, farro, and others in bulk. Decant into storage containers (tape cooking instructions inside lid).
Pro tip: Toasting grains in a little oil before adding the cooking liquid imparts extra flavor to the dish.
Tinned fish
Buy and store: Look for oil-packed (and wild-caught) sardines, tuna, salmon, and mackerel. Once opened, refrigerate in an airtight container for three days.
Pro tip: Sockeye or “red salmon” is meatier than the standard pink variety; “regular” (vs. “premium”) contains the skin and soft, edible bones, for optimum omega-3s and calcium.
Stocks and broths
Buy and store: Look for low-sodium varieties from a carton—or make your own (page 19).
Pro tip: Boost store-bought broth by simmering it for a half hour with vegetable scraps, kombu strips, or a little miso.
Count on these ingredients to give your dishes more depth.
Anchovies: Forget their fishy reputation. Just a bit of this tiny cured fish can bring a big umami flavor boost to pastas, soups, sauces, and salad dressings.
Capers: Fold the salt-packed variety into egg, tuna, and potato salad as well as cream cheese (for bagels); roast with cauliflower (and raisins, Sicilian-style); or fry and use as a garnish for seafood and green salads.
Curry paste: Besides being a flavor base for curries and stir-fries, Thai-style pastes can be mixed into mayonnaise for a sandwich spread or a dip for crudités.
Dijon mustard: A must for vinaigrettes, marinades, sauces, and glazes—and when breading cutlets (it goes on first).
Harissa: Spread this North African chile paste on a grilled cheese or spoon it into soups or tagines before serving.
Parmesan cheese: Grate or shave Parmigiano-Reggiano over pasta, risotto, and so many other Italian-style dishes—and add the rinds to broths and soups for incomparable taste.
Preserved lemons: These fermented fruits get better with age, adding punch to pastas, tagines, roast chicken, grain salads, and salsas and dips.
Tahini: It’s not just for hummus—this sesame-seed paste tastes great in salad dressings and is a quick base for sesame noodles.
Worcestershire sauce: Try this condiment to add depth and salty sweetness to marinades, salad dressings (a drop will do), sauces, and Bloody Marys.
Knives must be sharp—dull ones are more likely to slip and cause injury. At least once a season, I use a whetstone to sharpen mine, first lubricating them with mineral oil.