Pantry+2: A New Strategy for Easy Weeknight Dinners

As soon as people find out what I do for work they start asking me for cooking advice. The conversations usually go like this:

What you should always keep in your fridge, freezer, and cupboard to make cooking weeknight dinners easier.

Them: "How can I make it easier to cook dinner when I get home from work exhausted at the end of the day?"

Me: "Keep a well-stocked pantry."

Notice that I don't tell them to meal plan. I know that a lot of people swear by meal-planning, but it just doesn't work for me. And I don't think it works for many people with busy, unpredictable lives. If you shop for a full week's worth of meals and then your schedule for the week changes—as schedules are bound to do—you're left with a lot of perishable goods in your fridge that are going to go bad.

So instead of making one big shop over the weekend, I've developed a strategy called Pantry+2. Here's how it works: I stock a pantry with long-lasting essentials, and supplement it by picking up just one or two fresh things on my way home from work.

With Pantry+2, I usually have dinner ready in less than an hour—and that includes the grocery stop. Don't believe it? These three Pantry+2 recipes are proof.

1. For a Sweet and Spicy Pork Chop Dinner: Buy Pork Chops + Escarole

As soon as you get home with that head of escarole, chop it up, give it a good wash and spin, and then start cooking this 30-minute meal. You'll sear the pork chops before glazing them in a sweet, spicy, garlicky sauce thrown together from a few pantry cupboard essentials. Simmer a can of white beans in the rest of that sauce and then toss the beans with the escarole to wilt it slightly. The pleasantly bitter escarole—my favorite member of the chicory family—balances out the sweet sauce quite nicely.

I reach for a can of white beans from my cupboard so often for easy weeknight meals that I buy them in sets of four. (I'm actually surprised my boss hasn't told me to stop using them in the weeknight dinner recipes I develop! But you all love white beans as much as I do, right?)

Hot Honey Pork Chops with Escarole and White Beans

2. For a Satisfying Vegetarian Skillet Dinner: Buy Feta + Hearty Greens

When you feel like you're overdue for a dose of hearty greens but you still want to eat something comforting and and warming, this is the dinner for you. Pick up two bunches of hearty greens, such as collard greens and/or Tuscan kale, along with a big hunk of feta on your way home. Yes, feta is the main protein in this vegetarian dinner, and it gets so soft and warm and delicious in the oven that after making this you'll want feta for dinner once a week. Reach for a can of chickpeas this time (another favorite pantry staple—long live canned beans!) to crisp up with garlic and curry powder while the greens and feta do their thing in the oven, then sprinkle them on top for extra texture, flavor, and protein.

A simple yogurt and lemon juice sauce are here to remind you why you should always keep yogurt and lemons in your fridge at all times: they're the perfect creamy and tart finishing touch to so many things, whether deployed separately or together.

We at Epi HQ believe in keeping bread in the freezer at all times. Buy a lovely loaf, enjoy as much of it as you can in one day, then slice up the rest and freeze it in slices, and you'll always be able to make toast to go with dinner or your morning coffee. We love serving the feta and greens spooned over a slice of toasted country bread and drizzled with the yogurt sauce.

Baked Feta and Greens with Lemony Yogurt

3. For a Creamy Cauliflower (and Bacon!) Pasta Dinner: Buy Cauliflower + Parsley

Some nights when you get home, all you want is pasta. There are lots of pantry-only pasta options, but sometimes you want some real fresh vegetables in the mix. So to make this irresistible, creamy carbonara recipe, chop up a head of cauliflower and roast it. (All those deliciously caramelized little bits will get caught in the cups of orecchiette pasta when you toss it all together.) While the cauliflower is in the oven, get some pasta cooking, crisp up a few slices of bacon, and toss together the egg yolk and Parmesan mixture. When the pasta is ready, toss it—along with some pasta cooking water—with the sauce until it's nice and creamy and well-coated. Add the cauliflower and parsley. (The herb is essential to balancing out all the rich, creamy roasted flavors—sprinkle it liberally and count it as your green veg for the night.)

If you needed a reason to believe that you should keep eggs, bacon, and Parmesan cheese in your fridge at all times, look no further than this decadent but incredibly simple pasta dinner. (And if you're worried about your bacon staying fresh after you open the package, move it to the freezer, where it can live happily for months.)

Cauliflower Carbonara