Hetty Lui McKinnon's 40 Forever Ingredients
Cacio e pepe dumplings on the fly.
Welcome to Show Me Your Forevers, I'll Make You Dinner, a long name for an advice column where readers share the ingredients they always have on hand (and perhaps are tired of? Don’t even want to look at?) and I’ll dream up three dinners using those ingredients. To play, head here.
First up, salad whisperer, mentor, and great gossip
shares the 40 ingredients she always has on hand, then I “cook dinner” for her! Have you subscribed to her serene and honest Substack , or sailed away to vegetable nirvana in one of her cookbooks?
Hetty Lui McKinnon’s 40 Forever Ingredients
Vegetables: Ginger, Celery, Onion, Potato, Garlic, Broccoli, Kale
Fridge and freezer things: Tofu (extra firm, silken, Yuba), Tahini, Chili crisp/oil, Miso paste, Gochujang, Frozen spinach, Frozen peas, Frozen dumplings, Maple syrup
Herbs: Scallions, Dill, Cilantro
Fats: Olive oil, Toasted sesame oil
Acid: Rice vinegar, Black vinegar, Lemon
Pantry: Chickpeas, Lentils, Coconut milk, Curry paste (thai, Indian, Japanese bricks), Soy sauce / tamari, Tomato paste, Canned tomatoes, Rice, Noodles, Pasta, Cumin, Vegetable stock powder or better than bouillon, Red pepper flakes, Nutritional yeast, Chinese dried shiitake mushrooms, Salt, Pepper (white/black)
Three Dinners Using Hetty’s Ingredients
🥟Miso e pepe dumplings
Inspired by Tony Kim’s wonderful “cacio” e pepe, in a skillet, brown the flat sides of frozen dumplings in olive oil. Add a cup or two of water, vegetable stock powder or Better Than Bouillon, frozen peas, and a ton of black pepper. Cover and steam until the dumplings and peas are tender. Scoop some of the hot liquid into a little cup and stir in miso to dissolve. Stir that back into the dumplings. Top with cilantro.
🥫Gochujang ragu
Somewhere between mapo tofu and bolognese, this sauce would suspend crumbles of tofu in a spicy tomato sauce, to be eaten with noodles or rice. In a big pot, sauté chopped onion, garlic, and ginger in a little olive oil until softened. Add 2 or so tablespoons of gochujang, the same amount of tomato paste and stir until the tomato paste is a shade darker. Add the torn leaves of a bunch of kale and cook until wilted. Add about a cup of water and 1/4 cup soy sauce and crumble in a block of extra-firm tofu. Simmer until flavorful and thickened.
🍛Any-curry, any-lentil stew
Rich coconut milk and punchy spice mixes and pastes form the backbone of many a cozy soup, including South Indian curries and many Thai curries. This pantry-friendly idea combines silky coconut, whatever curry paste you have (Thai, Indian, Japanese bricks), and any lentils you have (green, brown, red, black) into a stew. Start by sautéing chopped ginger in olive oil. If you’re using a Thai curry paste or a dried curry powder, add that too to bring out its flavors. Add lentils, coconut milk, water, and frozen spinach. If using an Indian curry sauce or Japanese curry brick, stir that in too. Simmer until the lentils are tender. Add chopped cilantro and soy sauce to taste.
Next up, Caroline Lange, this newsletter’s recipe tester and editor, schemed dinners from two of your pantries. If you’d like your pantries Tetris-ed into dinners, head here.
The cook: Keltie (she/her)
Occupation: Independent consultant working from home
Residing in: Toronto, Canada
Feeding: 2 adults half the time, 2 adults plus 2 teenagers half the time
Notes: We often have last minute additions of our teenagers' friends, taking our dinner numbers from 4 to 6 people. We love that they know they are always welcome but it sometimes makes cooking dinner more complicated!
Forever ingredients:
Proteins and starches: Milk, yogurt, mozzarella, eggs, sausages, chicken (usually thighs), black beans, pasta, rice, tortillas, panko
Vegetables: Carrots, cucumbers, red peppers, cherry tomatoes, scallions
Flavorings: Cream, Parm, lemons, limes, hot sauce, vinegars, soy sauce, mayo, miso, Better Than Bouillon, pickles, olives