STORE CUPBOARD ESSENTIALS
This is not a list designed to show you what the perfect vegetarian cupboard should look like, but instead it’s a list of what I tend to need to keep my cupboard stocked with.
WET
Olive oil
Grape seed oil
Cider vinegar
Apple balsamic vinegar
Rice vinegar
Light soy sauce / Tamari (gluten-free version)
Henderson’s relish - generally only available in Sheffield, but it’s basically a vegetarian Worcestershire sauce. It tastes better too
Coconut milk
Tinned tomatoes - worth buying the best you can find, else it’s all stalks, skins and unripe bits
Mayonnaise
DRY
Brown basmati rice
Wild rice
Risotto rice (carnaroli)
Sushi rice
Spelt - for risottos
Red lentils
Yellow mung beans
Black (turtle) beans
Quinoa
Soba, udon and ramen noodles (try buckwheat noodles for wheat-free)
Pasta - linguine, trofie and gnocchi are my very favourites.
Nuts and seeds - pine nuts, pistachios, cashews and walnuts are always in there, though the pine nuts tend to get eaten almost immediately
BAKING
Dry yeast
Strong white bread flour
Rye flour
00’ flour
Self raising flour
Baking soda
Bicarb
Golden caster sugar/ demerara sugar
Free range eggs
SPICES
Cayenne pepper - a bit tastier than chilli powder, I find
Cumin
Ground coriander
Cinnamon
Turmeric
Nutmeg
Paprika - sweet and smoked
Sea salt and black pepper
Curry leaves
HERBS
In the brighter months I grow some lovely herbs (lemon verbena, chervil, red basil and tarragon) in a plastic greenhouse by our backdoor, but only the hardier ones (mint, rosemary, lemon thyme and parsley) last into later half of the year. The rest of time I always have a bushy basil plant in the window, although it rarely lasts the week as I have an unhealthy pesto addiction. I always have coriander in too, but I’ve never been able to keep a coriander plant alive for long. They’re too delicate for oafs like me.
FRIDGE
Not technically store cupboard at all, but I always struggle if I don’t have the following:
Garlic
Chillies
Peppers
Tomatoes
Onions
Spring onions
Spinach - my very favourite vegetable, apart from in May and June, when British Asparagus takes over
Cucumber
Greek yoghurt
