A friend who never cooks came over the other day and, as usual, went right to the fridge to explore. He has only beverages and condiments in his fridge and finds it fascinating to see the fresh food filling ours – fairly prosaic stuff, mind you, at least as far as we’re concerned.
I got to thinking about how we shop and cook. We make most meals at home, with take-out and/or restaurant trips only occasionally when we’re not traveling. I also thought about a recent thread where people talked about happily eating the same things over and over again….or not. Most of the time during the week when we aren’t entertaining, our meals follow a pattern of simple protein, salad and a cooked vegetable, so our shopping follows a basic stock list as well.
How about you? Do you have a regular stock list, and if so of what does it consist? Or do you decide what to cook and go get the ingredients? Talking here about fresh ingredients, not pantry items like oils and vinegars and canned items – that’s another, also fun, topic.
Here’s our basic weekly (or so) haul:
• Salad fixings – greens (arugula/lettuces/bitter greens etc.), radishes, fennel, cucumbers
• 3-4 of the standard veggies per week – broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kale, zucchini, summer squash, spinach, Chinese broccoli, tomatoes (in season only)
• Red onions, yellow onions, scallions, shallots, ginger, garlic
• Herbs – parsley, thyme, cilantro, tarragon, sage, dill
• Citrus - lemons, limes, oranges
• celery and carrots for soups and stocks
• eggs and milk (for coffee only)
• Most weeks – boneless skinless chicken thighs, whole chicken(s)
• Misc. fruit veggies – ‘baby’ carrots (my stepson eats them), apples and bananas (also for the kiddo), chilies, avocado
As for proteins, we keep standard meats frozen at all times and replenish when supplies run low – pork chops, steaks, duck breast, salmon fillets - but will shop separately for specialty items or main dish items for company. And of course we will get special ingredients when we feel like making something off usual menu, or when something special is in season.