There are a number of basic recipes that no cook can really do without, but in the world of sane eating, a few of these are absolutely essential: You must be able to make a pot of beans, a bowl of cooked grains, a simple steamed vegetable, a salad. This chapter will show you how. If you’re a beginning cook, these are true basics; if you’re a veteran, there are some twists that might be new to you.

This chapter also includes salsas, drizzles, and spice blends, with enough variations so that you can change the flavor profile of just about anything you cook without much effort. Once you have your pantry set up, it’s easy to create basic flavor combinations that can make even the simplest food—lettuce leaves, steamed broccoli, boiled grains, cut up (or grated) raw veggies—taste not only delicious but novel. Most of these can be made once and then used whenever you need them, weeks or even months later.

Beyond the staples are some building blocks that you’ll use over and over: tomato sauce, in a few different guises, none of which take more than a half hour or so; the new classic, roasted garlic, and the old standby, roasted peppers; stocks, long considered the backbone of fine cuisine and still useful in many contemporary dishes; a nearly whole-grain quick bread (45 minutes, start to finish, no kidding), and a revolutionary whole grain yeasted loaf that takes some time to ferment but almost no work and fits in perfectly with the Food Matters style of eating.