To make the most of a day stuck inside the house, here are the five staple ingredients you should always have in the fridge or cupboard -- with some recipe ideas on how to use them. You’re welcome!
Beans
Highly proteic, filling and wholesome, beans are a classic of our pantry. They can be used in myriad ways, from soups and stews to dahls and dips. The canned ones don’t even require soaking, meaning you can have dinner ready in less than one hour. How good is that?
Two recipes we love:
This adaptable bean soup
This incredible Mexican black bean soup
Eggs
What would life be without eggs? As much as we love our omelets and frittatas, this tomato breakfast skillet is a current obsession of ours, thanks to the perfect ratio of veggies to eggs to seasonings. Delicious.
Also try:
Jamie Oliver’s sunshine egg salad
Bon Appetit’s greens eggs and ham
Butter
The one ingredient that can improve almost any dish, butter should always, always be in your fridge. Sometimes, it should even be the star of your culinary creations. Like these brown butter caramel biscotti, ideal to be nibbled on with a mugful of something hot. Or these gooey butter bars, which only requires a cake mix, butter and an egg.
Chocolate
Definitely a good call on a snow day (and any other day), chocolate can boost your mood and energy, feel like a warm hug, and generally uplift even the gloomiest of days. Eat as is or melt it to make the perfect orange hot chocolate (spiked for the grown ups). Feeling fanciful and with some time at your hands? Then have a go at these salted chocolate hazelnut brownies and these perfect chocolate biscuits.
Cheese
There’s just something so irresistible about cheese -- especially when paired with our award-winning breads. Or walnuts. Or dried fruit. Or chutney. Or on its own. You get it.
When you’re feeling inspired and what to do more with it than just snacking, then we’d recommend this Tartiflette tart and baked four-cheese spaghetti, a recipe we recently stumbled upon that tastes just as decadent as it sounds.