21 Ingredients That Will Help You Cook Successfully Without A Recipe

No one was born with a Chef’s hat on, and even so we find our way around the kitchen, some better than others. Some cooks would not touch a pan or an ingredient without a cookbook before them, some can recite grandma’s recipes from decades before producing culinary works of art. For others the word ‘cook’ is literally and figuratively a four-letter-word. They view the very act with pure terror.

But really, does cooking have to be that complicated? Can’t it be a sweet, almost effortless dance of fresh ingredients, wonderful herbs and spices, and delightful creations? Well I say YES to all of the above. But what’s the key? It is Simple Ingredients which are easily accessible and always in the pantry. The following is a list of such ingredients. The first seven comes from the Seven-Ingredient-Box from Jesse Ziff Cool, author of ‘Simply Organic: A Cookbook for Sustainable, Seasonable, and Local Ingredients’. The other ingredients are just staples I think should be in every pantry:


1. Olive Oil

2. Acid (vinegar or lemon juice)

3. Salt (I prefer Kosher Salt)

4. Pepper

5. Sugar or Natural Sugar Alternative like Stevia

6. Herbs, either fresh or dried

7. Spices, either fresh or dried

8. Beans-Dried and Canned

9. Tuna

10. Whole Grain (eg. Whole grain pasta, brown rice, oats etc)

11. Cheese

12. Onion/Garlic

13. Some type of bottled meat and fish sauce

14. Tomato Paste (to thicken and add flavor to stews, soups and sauces)

15. Mustard (Great to add to a herb rub for baking meats or adding to a sauce)

16. Flour

17. Canned or Dried Fruits- To add to salads, marinades, smoothies etc.

18. Nuts-Almonds, Walnuts etc.

19. Mayonnaise-For a Quick Tuna or Potato salad or Cole Slaw. Also, with a little lemon juice and fresh herbs it makes a great sauce to accompany grilled or fried fish. If you are concerned about calories, a Creamy Reduced-Fat Dressing is a better pick, for taste purposes, over the plain Low-fat Mayonnaise in my opinion. You could also do half regular mayo and half of the reduced-fat dressing.

20. Chicken Broth

21. Bread Crumbs

A Great Produce Market Find at 'Three Guys From Brooklyn', and A Fruit Fiesta

Fruit is something I hold to very high standards. I've bought fruit from many produce markets only to be disappointed on the first bite. Plums and grapes I find to be especially inconsistent in flavor and quality. Too soft, too sour or just plain lacking. Within the last year my fruit buying has been narrowed to trips to BJs, Stop and Shop, and Shoprite. Farmer's markets are good too, although I don't get to go that often.

But last week I had a special treat when I tasted the sweetest pineapple I've had for a long time, and it didn't come from BJs, but a place called 'Three Guys from Brooklyn' . I like it even more when such great food is also at a great price, and the price was definitely right on this pinapple-about $2.00. The pineapple was the true star of a fruit fest consisting of succulent dark red cherries for under $1.50/lb and strawberries. My boyfriend's surprise, one of many, since he found out that one of the keys to my heart is the best and greatest food he can find.

So we decided to take a trip to our new favorite spot yesterday in the intense 100+ degree weather. But it was worth it-2 containers strawberries, 3 oranges, 1 sweet red pepper, 1 orange sweet pepper, 1 nicely sized eggplant, a full box of mangoes (about 14 total), about 5 ears of corn, l pineapple, 2 medium sized pears, 2 kiwis, 2 huge parcels of prepackaged cherries, 1 good sized parcel of $1.79/lb cherries(probably around 2lbs), 1 5lb bag potatoes, one huge bundle of asparagus for about $48. Well what can I say? When you find quality produce at reasonable prices, you should go a little overboard. Getting the up to 2 cups per day fruit recommendations is just so much easier with fruit that is worth eating. One thing you can do for yourself is really find a produce market or farmers market that gives you consistently good fruits for a decent price.

Well when I got home, my boyfriend and I made a rich smoothie with strawberries, cherries, kiwi, some yogurt, milk, crushed iced, and those super sweet pineapples off course. Today I made some fried, breaded eggplants and aspargus. I'm thinking many meals and fruit creations are going to come from just that one trip to the produce market. I'm looking forward to another 'fruitful' (no pun intended) trip soon.