If you are a cook you know how many food items can take up your refrigerator and pantry. Having an abundance of these items may seem like a good thing, but they can cause waste as it may be nearly impossible to use everything up before it goes bad. You can avoid this from happening by having a few key ingredients on hand at all times and then rotating a few new items in every week. There are five foods that ever cook should have in their kitchen at all times to maximize flavor and minimize waste.
Quinoa
This superfood has become quite popular over the last couple of years. Quinoa is extremely healthy and packed with vitamins and minerals. Because it has the consistency of a grain, it’s pretty versatile. You can use it to make veggie burgers, pizza crust or cookies. Really, the skies the limited with this tasty food.
Chickpeas
Even though it has the word “chick” in it, it doesn’t actually have poultry in it. These cute little beans have so many uses. They can be thrown in a salad and eaten raw or mashed to make hummus and eaten with tortilla chips. This is the food to turn to if you want something that’s quick and easy and requires little preparation.
Tomatoes
This versatile food probably seems like a no brainer. It’s found in many households throughout the world, but not many people use them to their full capacity. Tomatoes have so many more uses than just being slapped onto a burger or being turned into tomato sauce. They can be roasted or canned to use for later or they can jazz up a plain old grilled cheese sandwich. There are many different tomato variety to choose from including grape tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and steak tomatoes which adds to the versatility of this food.
Avocados
Even though avocados taste similar to a vegetable, they are actually a fruit. They are a source of both fiber and protein and can be used to complement a dish or as a main dish themselves. They can be mashed, chopped, fried or even used as a spread. One of the nice things about avocados is that they can last in your refrigerator for up to five days if they are fully ripe.
Tofu
This may be the most versatile food on our list because there are so many different varieties and uses for it. There’s firm, extra firm, seasoned and plain tofu just to name a few. It can be used to make sweet dishes like pudding or spicy dishes like “buffalo” fries. Many varieties also do not require refrigeration until after they are opened.
