The Urban Forager. Elisa Callow

      Getting Started: An Appeal for Planning

      Over the past few years, I have found ready-made food to be less and less satisfying compared with homemade dishes. While homemade can mean more work, the benefits far outweigh the time required. Let’s consider two scenarios.

      SCENARIO ONE: THE READY-MADE DINNER

      What you do: Purchase roasted chicken, boxed pilaf, frozen peas, salad in a bag, and bottled ranch dressing after work for dinner that evening. (Note: For a family of four there will be no leftovers, as most precooked chickens are on the small size. They are rarely organic.)

      Total time: 45 to 60 minutes (includes driving to the store, selecting food, waiting in line, driving home, cooking the peas and pilaf).

      CALORIE COUNT: 600 to 1,200, depending on number of servings.

      SCENARIO TWO: DINNER MADE BY YOU

      What you do: The day before your evening meal, you purchase one organic roasting chicken, butternut squash, a fresh lemon, and two heads of organic red leaf lettuce. You have on hand olive oil and vegetable oil, sherry vinegar, soy sauce, long-grain rice, butter, black pepper, garlic, and canned chicken broth.

      That day or evening, you marinate the chicken pieces in a mixture of vegetable oil, soy sauce, crushed garlic, salt, and lemon juice and store in a Pyrex container. You halve the butternut squash, seed each half, brush with olive oil, add salt and store in the refrigerator until ready to cook.

      The day of dinner, you roast the chicken and bake the squash at the same time. You make a double recipe of vinaigrette with olive oil, garlic, sherry vinegar, and salt and pepper. And you make a double recipe of pilaf by adding a tablespoon of butter to the saucepan, adding the rice, and cooking until golden, then adding hot chicken broth and simmering on low heat for 15 minutes.

      TOTAL TIME: 55 minutes (includes shopping and active cooking time, prep the night before, and final steps the day of the evening meal. It does not count the roasting time, which requires none of your attention except to check for doneness).

      CALORIE COUNT: 450 to 900, depending on the number of servings.

      As this chicken is larger, you should have enough cooked chicken and rice for a second one-dish meal, such as chicken and rice soup (for four), chicken salad (for four), or chicken enchiladas (for four), thus saving time, energy, and $$$, as well as being assured of the quality of the ingredients.

       NOW, COMPARE THE SCENARIOS

      There is little difference in time expended; rather it has more to do with planning. Imagine how much better you might feel at the end of a workday knowing that most of dinner is waiting for you. All you have to do is roast the chicken and the squash while you relax, change your clothes, help your kids do their homework, take a walk—anything but wait in line at the supermarket at the busiest time of the day. Leftovers are transformed and elevated into a completely new meal on night two. Enough said.

WHAT TO KEEP ON HAND

      Once you become more secure with cooking techniques, you will waste less and might even find yourself experimenting more freely with ingredients. I have learned from years of cooking for myself, my family, and friends that certain ingredients are key to many dishes. Having these “food tools” on hand allows me to be creative without a great deal of effort or last-minute running around. The list below is designed to help you develop your own kitchen as a place for inspiration, confidence, and readiness.

       ON THE COUNTER

      Avocados

      Bread, homemade or from a great bakery

      Citrus fruits, including lemons and limes

      Garlic, ginger, onions, shallots

      Potatoes of various types, yams

      Stone fruits such as peaches, apricots, plums

      Tomatoes

       IN THE REFRIGERATOR

      Butter

      Cheeses: whole parmesan, gruyère, goat, jack, manchego, cotija, feta

      Crème fraîche, mayonnaise, and yogurt

      Eggs

      Fruits and vegetables requiring refrigeration, such as lettuce, fresh herbs, and summer squashes

      Masa for tortillas

      Mustards: Dijon and yellow

      Whole milk, buttermilk, and cream (avoid ultra-pasteurized; much of the good bacteria that creates cultured-milk products, such as crème fraîche and yogurt, are destroyed)

      Wine and bubbly water

      Yeast

      Why no juices? Because they are full of sugar without the positive nutritional benefits of fresh fruit’s fiber.

       IN THE FREEZER

      Chicken, cut up

      Chili, homemade, or other dishes that freeze well, such as beans and soups without dairy ingredients

      Cookie rolls, homemade (ready to bake)

      Garam masala and any other spice mixes

      Ice cream

      Nuts, especially high-oil nuts that can become rancid easily, such as walnuts and pecans

      Pancetta, an Italian bacon that adds complexity of flavor to many dishes, especially soups and stews

      Rolls, good-quality (for last-minute needs)

      Sausages: good-quality pork, turkey, chicken, including chorizo, lap cheong, breakfast

      Spices and dried chiles, all types

       IN THE PANTRY

      I buy most of these items in bulk and store them in large jars, a practice that saves a lot of money and is environmentally more responsible, as it avoids excessive packaging.

      Anchovies packed in oil

      Beans: garbanzo, black, pinto, kidney (dried and canned)

      Bulgur wheat

      Capers

      Chicken broth, canned or boxed

      Chocolate chips and baking chocolate

      Coconut milk

      Dried fruit: raisins, cranberries, apricots

      Extracts: vanilla and almond

      Flour: white, pastry, rye, bread

      Flour for pasta: 00 (finely milled) and semolina (coarsely milled durum wheat)

      Lentils of various colors

      Nuts, roasted, such as almonds

      Oats, whole

      Oils: grapeseed, olive, sesame

      Pasta, dried, several varieties

      Polenta, quinoa

      Rice: long-grain, short-grain, black

      Salt: iodized, kosher, sea

      Soy sauce, fish sauce, hoisin sauce

      Spices, ground: mustard and paprika (store up to six months)