Pantry Cooking

I want my neighbors to lay in a good supply of emergency food in their pantries, but I want it to be fun and useful and tasty, not a dreary slog of dried milk and Spam. Therefore I'm going to post a series on cooking out of your pantry.

Why should you do it?

• The earthquake - ok obvious, but remote in time (or not!)
• Save money - when you have a well-stocked pantry and know how to use it, you don't HAVE to order takeout.
• Eat healthier. Out of the pantry? Yes. Learn to cook with beans and whole grains and you've got a good dinner instead of KFC.
  
• Stay tuned for a list of healthy pantry foods everybody needs more of.

The SF Chronicle did a pantry cooking article last year that focused on higher-end ingredients like dark chocolate, mirin sauce, and top-quality honey. Recipes included. Read it and stock some yummy delicacies to jazz up your emergency supplies.

Vegetarian ideas for the pantry from the Chronicle.

Cook unplugged - useful for planning to cook under earthquake or power outage conditions. The SF Chronicle published this during our energy crisis of 2001 - remember rolling blackouts?

List of my recipes that work with the pantry:

Bulghur and Tomatoes
Hummous
Pumpkin Tahini
Rice Pilaf
Egyptian Red Lentil Soup
Basic Lentil Soup with variations
Mjaddarah - lentils and rice with caramelized onions

I will post tonno e fagioli soon, another pantry dish I love. My current pantry recipe list is incomplete online so stay tuned for more.