What are the staples in your pantry?

There are times when you open the refrigerator to scrounge up something to eat, and you’re greeted by the lonely echo of mustard and olive jars clanging together. This is when you figure out the full potential (and necessity) of your staples -- that seemingly random collection of edibles you always have around. Because even when the cupboard is kinda bare, with a solid base of on-hand staples, there’s always just enough around to make a meal. Or at least a good snack.

Staples are also the go-to when we’ve blown the food budget for the week or month. The guilt of over-spending or eating out too often is easily curbed by a thrifty made-from-what-we-got meal.

Ideally, a staple has a long-ish shelf life, so it should rank up there with oxygen on your list of priorities -- you should never ever run out of or forget to buy it (like cheese, eggs, or red wine for me). No matter how broke, tired, or uninspired I am to cook, I can pull something together out of the staples. Usually, it’s a breakfast-for-dinner theme -- an omelet, a breakfast “bowl” of rice, beans and eggs, pancakes, or an Artichoke Fritatta stuffed with leftover odds and ends. Or it’s a simple Popeye Pasta with tomatoes, olive oil, and garlic. And, I'm not ashamed to admit, occasionally my "staple" meal is cheese and crackers washed down with a glass or two of good red wine.

My staples:

• Olive oil
• Good balsamic vinegar
• Canned tomatoes
• Garlic
• Onion
• Salsa
• Canned or dried black beans
• White and brown rice
• Peanut butter
• Dried angel hair pasta
• Cornmeal
• Eggs
• White cheddar cheese
• Milk
• Coffee
• One good bottle of red wine

-- Colleen Rush

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