Pure Pantry

These recipes show how you can still get dinner on the table when you have only dried, frozen, or canned ingredients on hand. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll always be able to make dinner even when you haven’t had time to shop for a single fresh ingredient.

But these recipes aren’t just for pantry ingredients. They can be embellished with fresh ingredients, leftover vegetables, or other bits of leftovers in the refrigerator as well.

Dinners made entirely from prepared ingredients need not be boring: Pair two unusual ingredients together like extravagant dried mushrooms with humble chick-peas; substitute an unusual grain, like quinoa (KEEN-wah) when common rice comes to mind; combine opposite tastes, like sweet with sour, hot with mild, or spicy with tame.