I hope you enjoy Starting from Scratch, my second book, published each week online, one chapter at a time. Before the book’s final publication, I hope to sprinkle readers’ thoughts, opinions and advice throughout. After all, you each have helpful systems and solutions in the kitchen worth sharing. By making a contribution, your comments will be printed, crediting you and/or your blog, and you’ll get free copies of the book. In addition, for each section, I’m consulting an expert blogger – for this excerpt, it’s Shaina Olmanson, home cook and author of Food For My Family.

Every person has his/her own personal preferences, whether it’s clothing, cars or food. Our upbringing, cultural traditions and regional preferences, among other factors, mold us into unique individuals. As such, if you were born in Asia, Japan or India, you have a cooking repertoire different from mine; and frankly, I might check out your cupboard for some ideas of my own.

For more traditional American cooking, I’ll suggest some non-perishable food items you might consider stocking, regardless of how your storage system measures up. Here are some basics to help get you started, after you have cleared the cupboard clutter:

Oils

When I was growing up, we used vegetable oil for everything, including fried chicken, tossed salads (when we actually ate one), and brownies, among other things. However, vegetable oil is high in trans fat or saturated fats; so now I try to choose healthier alternatives.

For the beginner chef, I’d pick two to keep it simple. You’ll need plenty of extra virgin olive oil to use for sautéing veggies and pan frying fish, mixing up greens and baking chicken. Alternatively, a less expensive oil, like canola, is great for for cooking veggies and meats and baking cookies, cakes and sweet breads. Lots of recent data suggest coconut oil is a healthy choice as well.

Vinegars

Two vinegars I’ll recommend to get you started are balsamic and red wine. A nice bottle of balsamic vinegar can be used for the obvious – a tossed salad. But you can also drizzle it on top of a piece of baked chicken for some extra flavor, or reduce it for use on steaks (more on reduction shortly). Recipes also frequently call for red wine vinegar, so this is a good choice for a variety of cooking purposes.

Broths

Though home-made broths truly add a new dimension of flavor to a lot of dishes, I rarely have the time to make them from scratch. It may also be a little laborious or intimidating for a beginner to attempt. As an easier alternative, you can purchase chicken, beef and vegetable broths and stocks in liquid or solid form (as bouillon). Though either variety is fine, the latter tends to be a little less expensive and has a longer shelf life.

Another advantage in using broths: vegetables and/or grains are often more flavorful when cooked in broths (versus water) and can be used in place of more fatty alternatives (e.g., butter or oil).

Seasonings

It would be a little intimidating to explain the value and purpose of every herb and spice; not to mention, we all have our personal favorites. My mom used to hang a spice chart on the kitchen wall, and a guide like this might be helpful for you as well.

In addition, I’ll provide a list commonly used dried spices. If you start with these, you will have your basis covered and can add others over time, as needed:

• Kosher and/or sea salt (more on this one later, but here’s a great overview in the meantime)
• Black peppercorns (or ground black pepper if you don’t have a peppermill)
• Oregano
• Basil
• Marjoram
• Thyme
• Cinnamon
• Cumin (ground and/or seeds)
• Garlic salt and powder (I always keep a huge supply of fresh garlic on hand, too)
• Ground cayenne pepper
• Red pepper flakes
• Paprika
• Curry powder
• Chili powder

Lydia Walshin, who provides guest blogs for Simple Bites, recommends Arrowroot as an ingredient you must have on your spice rack.

Nuts

I almost always have a fresh supply of nuts hanging around the house, such as almonds, walnuts and pecans. Not only are they a healthy snack alternative to chips and crackers (especially for kids!), they are nice to add to rice, salads and other dishes. A little crunch goes a long way to add flavor and depth to dishes.

Dried Pasta

On the pasta front, I recommend you grab whatever you like, though it’s nice to have a variety of shapes and sizes. For example, you might select some that are long and thin, such as spaghetti and linguini, and others which are short and/or twisted, like penne or Gemelli.

If you experiment with healthier whole-grain or wheat pastas; over time, you won’t miss the white stuff.

Grains

In addition to bread, it’s nice to stock up on brown rice and a high quality white rice such as basmati. I also keep quick-cook couscous on hand for those nights when I don’t have time to wait (or forget to start the rice).

Oatmeal is great for breakfast, and as previously mentioned, grains like quinoa and wheatberry are healthy and delicious, too.

Canned items

Though my supply of cans ebbs and flows over time, it’s generally a good idea to keep some or all of the following canned items on hand:

• Tomatoes
• Tuna
• Coconut milk
• Other healthy choices: Black beans, chickpeas

Condiments

I jokingly refer to ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise as condiments to put on burgers and ‘dogs, but these condiments are used in many other dishes, too. I’ve used whole grain and brown mustards in everything from baked chicken to salad dressings.

Maple Syrup

Shaina suggests stocking up on maple syrup.  “It is an excellent addition to marinades, and I use it to sweeten everything from my morning oatmeal to homemade granola bars.  One of my favorite vinaigrettes also has maple syrup as an ingredient.”

Miscellaneous:

Other items which I use frequently include:

• Peanut butter
• Soy sauce
• Tobasco sauce
• Worcestershire sauce
• Honey and molasses

Baking essentials:

Baking may not be on your immediate cooking horizon; and if not, make sure you have some all-purpose white and/or whole wheat flour on hand for coating chicken or fish (as well as other uses).

If baking cakes is your main incentive for learning to cook in the first place, make sure you get the following items as well:

• White sugar
• Brown sugar
• Confectioners’ sugar
• Cocoa powder and unsweetened chocolate
• Corn meal (can be used for cornbread and pizza dough)
• Yeast
• Baking powder
• Baking soda
• Vanilla flavoring
• Almond extract
• Chocolate chips (if you are someone you know is a cookie lover)
• If you prefer sugar substitutes are agave nectar, include these on the list as well

The aforementioned items will likely cover your basic needs, aside from the occasional specialty herb or rare ingredient. As your culinary horizons expand, you may wish to add additional oils, vinegars and seasonings to the mix.

Here’s what Jamie Oliver stores in his cupboard, as cited by Mind, Body and Green.

Lydia Walshin’s includes these items in her cupboard.

Are there any others you keep on hand?

About Shaina Olmanson

Shaina Olmanson is a freelance writer and photographer and also the home cook behind Food for My Family and the food channel editor at Lifetime Moms.  She fell in love with the art of cooking while spending countless hours hanging on her grandmother’s apron strings, and as a native Minnesotan, growing up surrounded by farms served as a daily reminder of the importance of local and seasonal food.  Raising her four young children with her husband, she strives to teach them the importance of growing, preparing and eating and enjoying real food.

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