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A hardworking peppermill

ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES

Blender and/or immersion blender (see Chapter 1: Soups)

Hand-held electric mixer

Toaster oven

Microwave

FOR STORAGE

Containers: Collect food containers with tight-fitting lids in various sizes (store them stacked, with covers in a shoebox on the side). This is better for the environment than using plastic bags and plastic wrap. Also, save those plastic tubs with tight-fitting lids—the ones left over from when you binged on a bulk cookie purchase at the club store. They’re great for storing grains, beans, nuts, and dried fruit, and they stack well for space-saving.

Jars with lids: Wash and save jars. Small ones are great for storing all your brilliant homemade salad dressings. Larger ones are perfect for keeping dried fruit and nuts, or beans, lentils, and grains.

Resealable plastic bags: Lay in a supply of freezer-weight and regular-weight bags in various sizes. (If this goes against your environmental values, just stick with the leftover containers, above.)

Plastic bags: If the ones you brought home from the produce section or the farmers’ market are clean and dry, keep them for further use.

Large coffee cans: Clean them out when the coffee is gone, and use them to store those plastic bags you saved.

Permanent markers: Keep a few around for labeling whatever you are storing, with both the item name and the date. You might think this is overkill, but you will later thank yourself for doing this, I promise.

Aluminum foil and plastic wrap: These take turns being indispensable.

Shoeboxes: These are great for storing small bags of spices bought in bulk (which reminds me to recommend that you look for specialty food stores that sell spices in bulk, by the ounce, which will save you lots of money over time).

SPECIALTY FOODS

I will often suggest small touches of certain special ingredients—often as get creative additions to the recipes. Note that these are “special” and not “essential.” Here’s some useful information about them, so you can stock up to the degree that your wallet allows.

But first, before we get to the fun part, a few words about oil.

You will be cooking with oil a lot throughout this book. Your standard, everyday workhorse oils will, in most cases, be olive oil (choose a not-too-expensive extra-virgin) plus a second, more neutral-tasting oil, to use when olive flavor is incompatible with the dish. For this second oil, I recommend canola, soy, or peanut oil. Occasionally, but not often, I will also include some butter (which vegans can simply omit). So these are your daily heavy lifters. Onward to the flavoring ones.

High-quality olive oil: There are many, many imported and domestic olive oils on the market these days, ranging from “pure” to “extra-virgin.” As I mentioned above, I recommend using a not-too-expensive extra-virgin for everyday cooking and salad dressings, and keeping an extra-extra special one around for special-occasion finishing and drizzling (recommended throughout the book). A small drizzle can have a large and good effect, so you can use this economically.

Toasted sesame oil: This dark Chinese flavoring oil is sold in the Asian foods section of supermarkets. All I want to say is “please get some”—it’s that good, and that important an ingredient.

Other roasted nut and seed oils: These profoundly flavorful seasoning oils (which include walnut, almond, hazelnut, pistachio, and pumpkin seed oils) are not for cooking, but rather for drizzling onto your cooked food as a “flavor finish” or to supplement the olive oil in salad dressings. You can also use them as a dunk for fresh bread to create an exquisite appetizer, soup accompaniment, or quick snack.

Keep all oils stored in a cool, dark place—or in the refrigerator. This is especially true for the “gourmet” ones, so they will stay good over the period of time you are parceling them out.

Pure maple syrup: No imitations, now or ever, or you will go to culinary jail. Actually, I’m only somewhat kidding. If you love maple syrup impersonators on your pancakes,