Creating a Vegetarian Pantry I was working on creating my own vegetarian pantry and I decided to share with you!! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NON-PERISHABLE DRY GOODS Beans, canned: Look for good-quality beans, without additives, or better yet, organic canned or jarred beans from natural food stores or co-ops, including your favorites from the following: Black beans Black-eyed peas Chickpeas (garbanzos) Great northern beans (cannellini) Pink beans Pinto beans Red or kidney beans -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Beans, dried: If you're inclined to cook beans from scratch, I don't object! Black beans, adzuki beans, and navy beans are particularly good cooked from scratch; there's also pink, kidney, red, and large white beans; brown and red lentils, and split peas. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chilies, green, in 4 or 7-ounce cans, chopped, mild or hot, as preferred -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Grains: If you are going to store whole grains at room temperature, don't buy more than what you will use up in about 3 months. During hot summer months, refrigerate them. Barley Bulgur Couscous Rice (long-grain brown, basmati, arborio, quick-cooking, etc.) Quinoa Wild rice -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Herbs and spices, dried: Keep a good range of commonly used varieties on hand; seasoning blends, especially an all-purpose salt-free herb-and-spice blend, a good-quality curry powder, as well as an Italian herb seasoning blend, are especially useful. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oils: Dark sesame oil Extra-virgin olive oil Light olive oil -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pastas and noodles: Keep a good supply of different sizes and shapes of pasta in your pantry. Some useful shapes to have on hand include angel hair, thin spaghetti, spirals (rotini), ziti or penne, fettuccine, and linguine. A few Asian noodles, such as udon, soba, and rice vermicelli, are available in natural food stores and are nice to have on hand too. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Soy sauce: Sometimes marketed under the name tamari or shoyu; buy a good natural brand for best flavor. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tomato products, canned: Diced, in 14- to 16-ounce cans Crushed or pureed, in 14, 16, and 28-ounce cans Tomato sauce -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vinegars: Balsamic (dark and/or white) Red wine or white wine vinegar Rice vinegar (for Asian-style cooking) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PREPARED CONDIMENTS, SAUCES, AND SUCH Barbecue sauce (great for broiling or stir-frying tofu, tempeh, or seitan) Pasta (marinara) sauce (this comes in so many natural and flavorful varieties) Pizza sauce Salad dressings (choose natural, low-fat varieties of your favorites; I find red wine vinaigrette, balsamic vinaigrette, and ranch most useful) Salsa, tomato-based, mild to hot as you prefer Salsa, tomatillo (Salsa verde) Thai peanut sauce Stir-fry sauce -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PANTRY VEGETABLES Garlic Onions (yellow, red, or both) Potatoes, white (red-skinned are an excellent all-purpose potato) Potatoes, sweet (for fall and winter) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- REFRIGERATOR STAPLES Refrigerator staples are more subjective to define than pantry staples. That being the case, this is a fairly short list, concentrating on the ingredients that I feel are essential to have on hand to ensure flexibility in meal preparation. This doesn't include fruits and vegetables, which you should buy as often as you need them. Butter or margarine (both to be used quite sparingly; I like natural soy based margarines;look for a brand that is free of hydrogenated oils and trans-fatty acids) Cheeses, shredded (low-fat if preferred, or soy cheese) Parmesan cheese, grated fresh (or if you prefer, try Parmesan-style soy cheese) Ketchup Lemons Mayonnaise (preferably commercially prepared tofu mayonnaise) Milk, low-fat, or soy milk Mustard, prepared (Dijon-style is excellent) Tofu (in various forms including silken, soft, firm or extra-firm, and baked. See more detailed description of the various forms of tofu on page 000) Yogurts, plain and flavored -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FREEZER STAPLES Burger and hot dog rolls (for veggie burgers and soy hot dogs, of course) Hero or sub rolls Pastas, frozen (any of ravioli, tortellini, cavatelli, gnocchi) Pita bread Pizza crusts Soy bacon Soy hot dogs Tortillas, corn and flour Vegetables of your choice (corn kernels, green beans, green peas, and chopped spinach are useful) Veggie burgers -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES Though fresh produce is undoubtedly a staple in this book's recipes and menus, it would be cumbersome to list all those used. Produce is the food I shop for most frequently, since I like to have it as fresh as possible. Though the seasonality of produce has been stretched by imports, I like to stick with what is truly seasonal as much as possible. Please support family farms by shopping at local farm stands and farmers markets if you have access to them. Cast a vote for organic produce (as well as organic eggs and dairy products) by buying them as often as you can; they are more expensive, to be sure, but if there is more of a demand, prices will come down.