The Perfect Pantry®

Slow cooker Italian pot roast with sun-dried tomatoes and olives

It's school vacation week, and you've got your hands full. Why not toss a few ingredients into the slow cooker, and let dinner cook all day while you're making snow angels or going to see The Hobbit with the kids? This Italian pot roast tastes great on the day you make it, served with boiled potatoes or egg noodles, and even better the next day. The balsamic vinegar and olives lend their perky tang, and sun-dried tomatoes deepen the sauce, turning a humble chuck roast into a divine stew. Dinner doesn't get much easier, or more comforting, than this.

Slow cooker beer-braised beef with kale recipe

When I found a couple of bottles of O'Doul's nonalcoholic beer in the far recesses of my refrigerator, along with a partial bag of chopped kale, I searched the pantry and freezer for other ingredients that would bring those two together. This year I've made a real effort to cook with more dark leafy greens, especially kale, and though I didn't love it in January, I can say honestly that I love kale now. For my husband Ted, a true believer when it comes to any variation of beef stew, I decided to put that "near beer" to good use in this braised beef with kale. The slow cooker makes it easy; let the beef cook all day while you're out finishing your holiday shopping, and half an hour before you serve, stir in the kale so it retains some texture without turning to mush. Like all stews, it's even better the second day, and it freezes well, too.

Harissa (Recipe: vegan squash or pumpkin stew with chickpeas and carrots)

First published in November 2007, this updated pantry ingredient post features new photos, links, and a few tweaks to the recipe. Spicy harissa gives this stew a smoky kick; use more or less, to your taste. If you have a tagine, a Moroccan cooking or serving pot with a conical top, serve this in traditional North African style.

Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.

Ilsa didn't go to Rick's Café Americain for the food. In fact, nobody went to Rick's for the food. Drinking, yes. Smoking, of course. Gambling and trading? You betcha. A rousing chorus of La Marseillaise? Absolutely!

But food? Not a bite, and what a shame, because Rick's, the place to see and be seen in the classic film, Casablanca, surely might have had wonderful food, including couscous and tagines with spicy homemade harissa.

Recipe for chicken pesto pasta

With apologies to Rachael Ray, anyone with a well-stocked pantry can turn out a fantastic thirty-minute meal. Pesto (made weeks ago and frozen in meal-sized portions, or even store-bought), dried pasta, slow-roasted tomatoes (also from the freezer, though sun-dried tomatoes would be fine), frozen chicken breasts, pine nuts, and good cheese:  the only thing in this chicken pesto pasta that isn't directly from my pantry is... me! This dish is a garlic lover's dream, and a make-ahead cook's dream, too. Multiply the recipe to feed a crowd; prepare it the day before, and let it come to room temperature before you serve with a green salad, crusty bread, and a nice glass of wine.