I’ve always been passionate about cooking. Since I’m a kid, I remember helping out my mother (who looooves to cook) in the kitchen preparing fresh, homemade and varied meals Every Day! Even working a full-time job, she made sure to cook something different every day so I have a lot of go-to recipes in my sleeves as well as new ones I came up with. Writing recipes is not my forte as I like to improvise and experiment when I cook. Timing is not in the essence of cooking for me as I find it therapeutic and calming. So I will try to get the best instructions I can, so you can reproduce in your home what I cooked in mine.

For starters, you will need the following staples in your house so you can cook these recipes for yourself.

SpicesSaltPepperGaram masala (or curry powder)
Dry goodsRiceRed LentilsTortilla (or Flour)
OilOlive oil
Canned foodTomato sauceBeans
VegetablesGreen Peppers (or Carrots)OnionsGarlic
Non-vegan ingredientsCheeseGround beefSausage
MilkCoconut milk

Spices

Salt and pepper are indispensable when cooking. I like to have a pepper grinder instead of ground pepper so you get more flavour. Garam masala is a blend of spices that will add flavour to your dishes. A good alternative and (maybe) more commonly available spice is Curry powder, another blend of spices.

Dry goods

I prefer red lentils over green as you can make more varied dished but green lentils are tasty too.

If you don’t have tortillas, you can easily make your own with flour. I will give you a super easy recipe to make some. Corn flour is traditionally used to make tortillas but to be able to make multiple recipe white or whole-wheat flour is preferred.

Oil

For olive oil, I will favour an extra-virgin cold pressed which is the best as it will be the most nutritious and highest quality.

Canned food

Tomato sauce without added salt is your best bet. If you have limited fridge space, choose smaller can size so you don’t waste any.

For the beans, you can choose whatever colour you like, black and red are my favourite. Because canned beans are already cooked, they will preserve energy when cooking but you can substitute canned beans with dry beans if you cook them beforehand.

DIY Greens

Another suggestion is to start growing some greens this week. And, yes it’s possible regardless of your climate (I’m currently in Montreal, Canada and it’s still cold!).

Store-bought green onions placed in a jar or a glass with about 1cm of water will last for months. Just harvest the green part or keep 5 cm of the white part with some roots and it will regrow.

Another tip to get fresh greens is to make some sprouts. It’s really easy, requires very little investments and provides fresh greens every 3-4 days. I will dedicate another article with step-by-step instructions so you can grow your first sprouts at home (if you’re not already doing it).

In following posts, I will publish the 10 following recipes that you will be able to make with the ingredients listed above:

All these recipes are vegetarian (and can be vegan and gluten-free). I will also add notes to make these recipes for meat-lovers.