make your stomach happy 

copyright ©1999-2000
DigsMagazine.com.

Stock Your Shelves|  1 2 3
continued from 1

carbs…
rice: I prefer the short-grained Asian variety, good for both stir-fries and faux risottos, but basically anything’s fine, as long as it’s not the Uncle Ben’s/Minute Rice variety.
long skinny-ish pasta: I like linguine. Noodle-like pastas are good with thinner sauces and in soups.
short pasta shape: I’m partial to penne. Shaped pasta is best with chunky sauces.

canned goods…
chicken stock: Yeah, so the homemade stuff tastes better … but for us lazy cooks, the canned variety will be perfectly sufficient for making soups, sauces, etc. Get the low-sodium variety, though, if possible.
diced tomatoes: Perhaps not something that would immediately leap to most peoples’ minds as an essential, but since I do insist upon making my own tomato sauce [it’s ridiculously easy and tastes so much better than anything you’ll get straight out of a jar], I swear by these. Also good for making salsa, enchilada sauce, bean dishes, and more. The no salt added kind is best.

perishables…
garlic
onions
carrots
potatoes
basil: Or whatever fresh herb you prefer. I grow herbs in pots so I can get them fresh year-round; basil happens to be the one I most frequently use in cooking.
eggs
cheddar/Monterey jack cheese: Whichever cheap, easy-melting cheese you like best.
parmesan cheese: Food snobs will insist upon authentic parmigiano reggiano … admittedly the taste is superior, but it’s molto caro, and anyway, even the cheap parm, freshly grated, is infinitely preferable to that stuff that comes out of a cardboard canister

other…
cornstarch: For thickening sauces.
flour

but wait, there's more!

---------------------------> lounge . nourish . host . laze . home.