5 Must Have Ingredients!

I was helping out a friend recently who is learning to cook. She asked me what I insisted on keeping in my fridge. Aside from the basics such as salt, olive oil, eggs, butter, rice and so on what did I have that I could absolutely not live without and would easily help me bam out a quick, yet flavorful meal. I narrowed it down to five ingredients aside from garlic (whole and chopped) and vanilla (extract, beans, ice cream) because you can guarantee that I'll shrivel up and die without them.

1) Bacon: Be it pancetta, proscuitto, smoked bacon or whatever, I like to buy large amounts made by local pig farmers, split it up and freeze certain portions in air tight containers. Come winter I use it on meatloafs or cut it over winter squash and fruits with maple syrup and bake it. In summer, I use it to tie up bundles of green beans, or crumble it over pea soup.

2) Limes and lime juice: Perfect for a quick asparagus sautee, salsa, limeade, fish, and chutney! Let's also not forget mojitos, a gurl's best friend. Seriously, can you go wrong with limes?

3) Cilantro: This spicy and herby herb is great all year round. I use it in soups come every season, and even makes for an excellent garnish. Perfect for Mexican, Indian, North American Indian, Cajun, and various Asian cuisines! It's one of the most versatile things you can have in your fridge!

4) Frozen Fruit: Smoothies, Pies, Cakes, Tarts, Smoothies, Soups, Cocktails, and most importantly Smoothies. It's not fresh, but come winter, it does the job!

5) Udon Noodles: We do a lot of stirfrys and soups in this house. Lots. So Udon noodles and a must. They're quick, tasty, and complement any dish and flavor! I highly suggest stir-frying some with some fave veggies, roasted red pepper paste, brown sugar, and garlic.

Other staples I like to have, but not in the my top 5: Curry powder, cumin, tarragon, coconut milk, ancho chilis, chai, mint, and blood orange oil which I know is esoteric but shut up, it makes for awesome salads.