The Somersize Pantry
If you’re used to using prepared foods when you cook and eat at home, you will need to make some adjustments. Most prepared foods include processed Funky Foods like sugar and white flour. But with a little preparation, you can learn to create fresh foods that taste much better and are far more nutritious.
I keep my refrigerator stocked with ingredients that allow me to prepare great meals in minutes. I like to shop at our local farmers’ market on Saturdays and stock up for the week. Then on Sundays I do a little cooking: perhaps a pot of cannellini beans to make my delicious White Bean Garden Salad (this page) or to throw into a fresh vegetable soup or puree as a dip for vegetables or a spread for sandwiches. Maybe I’ll roast a chicken for a family dinner. The next day I’ll use the leftover meat for a chicken salad, and then use the carcass to make my yummy Chicken Tomato Cilantro Soup (this page) for the following night.
Having ingredients in the house makes coming home from work and preparing dinner so easy. The recipes in this book are fast and require minimal skill as a chef. As with any good recipe, the most important part is good-quality ingredients. Here are some of the ingredients I like to always have in my refrigerator and pantry. I can whip up Somersize meals in minutes when I have these supplies around.
Whole-Grain Pastas Whatever brand you choose, look for durum wheat, durum wheat semolina, or whole grains such as spelt or kamut in the list of ingredients. I also like whole wheat and artichoke or whole wheat and spinach pastas.
Rice Brown rice and wild rice. Make sure neither are blended with white rice of any sort.
Whole-Grain Bread Whole wheat, pumpernickel (a form of rye), or rye bread—whatever kind you like. Keep an extra loaf in the freezer so you never run out. Check for hidden sugars, fats, fruits, or sweeteners. Choose totally natural breads made without honey, white flour, or fruit juice. And don’t forget whole wheat pitas, whole wheat flat bread, and whole wheat tortillas; just make sure they’re made without any fats.
Phyllo Dough Many types are whole wheat. Keep a box in the freezer for quick Level Two tarts and pastries.
Hot Cereals Oatmeal and Cream of Wheat.
Cold Cereals I like Shredded Wheat, Grape-Nuts, and Crispy Brown Rice. Again, check carefully on the labels for sugars and Funky Foods. Even All-Bran isn’t “all bran”—it has added sugar.
Nonfat Cottage Cheese You can now get calcium-enriched cottage cheese. I recommend it.
Nonfat Yogurt Pavel’s is my favorite brand, but it’s sometimes hard to find.
Nonfat Milk Also called skim milk. Again, calcium-enriched is a plus.
Cheese Whatever kind you like. I usually keep Stilton or another good blue, Parmesan or Romano, goat, and feta cheeses on hand. Pecorino is another favorite of mine and sometimes I splurge on a triple cream like Camembert or Brie.
Butter Regular and unsalted.
Margarine If you’re watching your cholesterol, canola oil margarine is a good alternative to butter. But I use margarine sparingly—if at all—because it’s often loaded with chemicals and has little taste. Olive oil is another great butter substitute.
Fresh Eggs I get mine from the farmers’ market for the freshest of fresh.
Mustard Yellow, whole-grain, and Dijon.
Mayonnaise Make sure it has no sugar added. Or make your own, with my easy recipe (see this page).
Fresh Fish I always buy my fish the same day I eat it. My favorites are sea bass, trout, and tuna.
Meat I don’t eat a lot of meat, but I like to keep a few things in the freezer to thaw for a quick meal. Pork chops, lean ground beef, steaks, and lamb chops.
Poultry I eat a lot of chicken. I have the butcher make a few packages with two chicken breasts in each. That way I can keep them in the freezer and thaw them quickly for an easy meal. I do the same with turkey cutlets—they’re a nice alternative with a slightly different flavor. I also keep ground chicken and ground turkey on hand.
Beans—Dried, Canned, or Fresh I like cannellini beans, pinto beans, lentils, black-eyed peas, and garbanzo beans (also called chickpeas).
Oil I buy extra-virgin olive oil by the case. I use it in almost every meal. I also keep vegetable oils, like safflower or canola. And don’t forget hot chili oil and roasted sesame oil to flavor those delicious Asian meals.
Vinegar Balsamic, red wine, and white wine vinegar are my household staples. Rice vinegar is good to have around for Asian dishes.
Lettuce I buy my lettuce on the weekend and wash, dry, and bag it so that I have easy salads all week long. You can also buy prewashed lettuce. I like red leaf, butter lettuce, romaine, radicchio, and endive.
Onions Brown, white, yellow, or red; also scallions and leeks.
Garlic And plenty of it. Sometimes I peel a few heads and keep the cloves in olive oil in the fridge for quick access.
Ginger For Asian recipes.
Soy Sauce For Asian recipes.
Fresh Veggies Whatever is in season and looks great—asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, summer squash, zucchini, fennel, celery, celery root, green beans, bell peppers.
Fresh and Dried Herbs Basil, thyme, rosemary, parsley, tarragon, dill, mint, and cilantro are a few that I always like to have around.
Fresh Fruits I choose whatever is in season—apples, grapes, mangoes, papaya, melons, berries, and citrus fruits. Because their sugar content is so low, lemons and limes can be used to season foods from any of the four Somersize Food Groups.
Frozen Fruits Frozen fruits are great for Fruit Smoothies and Level Two pastries. I always have frozen berries and peaches on hand—and mangoes when I can find them.
Frozen Veggies I use frozen veggies only when I absolutely can’t get them fresh. The flavor doesn’t compare.
Canned Goods I always keep canned tomatoes on hand for easy-to-prepare sauces. I buy tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, and whole peeled tomatoes. I also like hearts of palm, which are great in salads. Canned bamboo shoots are good for Asian dishes, and a few cans of tuna are nice to have around to throw into salads. I always keep cans of chicken and beef stock on hand for the times when I can’t make my own.
Somersizing is a shift in your thinking about food.
I don’t like to waste food or time, so I love to cook big batches of foods ahead of time. Then I use them during the week for instant gourmet meals. For example, I’ll prepare pesto when basil is in season. My family makes a whole weekend of it, and everyone goes home with a few jars for themselves. During the week, I’ll come home, and simply cook some whole wheat pasta and toss it with pesto for an instant meal. Or I might stuff it under the skin of chicken breasts and bake them in the oven for twenty minutes. What could be easier? Or I might add a few flavorful spoonfuls to a vegetable soup.
When tomatoes are in season—ripe and delicious—Alan will buy a crate of them and I’ll spend a day making “Candied” Tomatoes (this page) and store them in olive oil in the refrigerator. They make a great Level Two lunch with cannellini beans, served atop a green salad, or a slice of grilled whole wheat bread with some fresh basil. A fast dinner is an omelet filled with “Candied” Tomatoes and caramelized onions. Grill a fresh fillet of sole and top it with “Candied” Tomatoes; it takes no more than ten minutes and is fit for company. Serve with lamb chops or chicken … I could go on and on.
I like to roast a chicken on Sundays for my family and serve it with vegetables and baked garlic. I’ll bake some extra garlic and store it in the refrigerator for a quick lunch with sautéed vegetables or pasta. I’ll remove all the leftover meat from the chicken and use it for a chicken salad or grilled with vegetables. Then I make from the carcass a rich, dark chicken stock that I use later on for vegetable soup, chicken soup, or as a flavoring in sauces.
So whenever you cook, constantly think ahead. In today’s busy world, it’s a wonderful treat to have in your freezer or refrigerator the fresh, delicious ingredients and components of an instant, healthy, and appetizing meal.
Steaming This is one of the easiest ways to enjoy fresh vegetables. It’s best to have a steamer; but you can do it in a microwave, or on the stove with a removable steamer. I like to steam vegetables until they are still slightly crisp. When you stick a fork in the vegetables, it goes in easily but the vegetables are still firm. Different vegetables take different amounts of time to cook, so don’t steam all your vegetables at once.
Pasta Do not overcook whole wheat pasta products—they turn to mush. Prepare according to package instructions and keep tasting until you get your desired firmness. Then drain and rinse in cold water to prevent sticking. Save a few spoonfuls of the water in which the pasta was cooked for use in your sauce.
Grilling One of my favorite ways to cook. I make everything on the grill, from vegetables to chicken breasts and fish to whole wheat bread. I love to cook outside in nice weather. I recently remodeled my kitchen so I also have an indoor grill. Or I can use grill pans that fit right over the burner. They’re available at cooking stores, and are a lot less expensive than remodeling your kitchen. I like to use my outdoor gas grill so I don’t have to worry about the potential health hazards of grilling over charcoal.
Seasoning I always like to season with fresh herbs. If you don’t have space to grow herbs in a garden, basil, thyme, rosemary, sage, and parsley will grow just fine in a window garden. I love fried sage leaves sprinkled over cannellini beans. Fresh thyme is great over any kind of tomato or zucchini dish. Use fresh parsley over pasta or in sauces, or fresh rosemary with lamb. Sprinkle fresh parsley or basil into vegetable soup. If a window garden is not an option for you, then fill your spice cabinet with as many dried spices as possible.
In addition to herbs, I use salt, pepper, and lemon liberally to taste. On Level Two, I also sprinkle a little olive oil with a squeeze of fresh lemon, salt, and pepper on salads or pastas.