The Perfect Pantry®

Recipe for tofu and green bean stir-fry with spicy peanut sauce

Here in Rhode Island, when snow is on the way, everyone runs to the store for milk and bread. My pantry always holds a full complement of Asian condiments, plus several types of rice to steam up in my little rice cooker, so I run to the store for fresh ingredients to mix and match in enough stir-fry dishes to see us through any storm. This recipe takes one of my basic stir-fry sauces and gives it a twist with the addition of peanut butter. The amount of Sriracha makes this moderately spicy, so adjust for your own heat tolerance. These days, you can find Sriracha in most grocery stores, but if you don't have it on hand, a few red pepper flakes will stand in nicely.

Canned black beans (Recipe: vegan black bean and sweet potato stew)

One convenient thing to know about canned black beans:

There's not much difference in the nutritional value of canned black beans and dried beans you cook yourself. The canning process requires long cooking time at a high temperature, which lowers the nutritional value of many canned vegetables, but beans require long cooking time anyway, so they hold most of their goodness through the canning process. The ultimate convenience food, canned black beans keep for years in the pantry, ready and waiting to turn themselves into soup or stew or a quick quesadilla filling.

Preserved lemons (Recipe: slow cooker lentil and brown rice soup with preserved lemons and garlic sausage)

One important thing to know about preserved lemons:

A condiment used extensively in North African cuisine, preserved lemons don't taste like fresh lemons at all, and you really can't substitute one for the other. Preserved lemons, pickled in a salty brine, taste most like capers -- a mildly fruity and floral flavor that adds a surprising bite to soups and stews -- and you can slip them into dishes that usually call for capers. Best of all, It's incredibly easy to make them in your own kitchen. All you need are lemons, kosher salt, a glass jar, and a little bit of patience.

Cannellini beans (Recipe: Greek hummus with white beans and feta)

 

Looking back on the foods we ate when I was growing up, I don't remember beans.

No black beans and rice, no chunky vegetable soup with cannellini beans, no baked kidney beans infused with molasses.

Can you imagine?

Even in high school, when I flirted with teenage vegetarianism for a few months, I don't remember beans. In fact, I didn't "get" beans until I moved into my first apartment, junior year of college, with no meal plan and no money. I didn't know anything about amino acids or complex proteins. I'd never heard of "the three sisters" (beans, corn, squash). I knew that beans were inexpensive and hearty, and I could afford to fill my pantry with them.

Now I know more about nutrition, and my food budget is a bit higher than it used to be, but I still like a bowl of beans more than just about anything.