Joanna Goddard's 40 essential ingredients
Plus dinners using YOUR pantries.
It may be a new year, but we’re still working with the same pantries, so welcome to a super-sized edition of Show Me Your Forevers, I'll Make You Dinner, an advice column here at 40 Ingredients Forever where a reader shares the ingredients they always have on hand and I’ll dream up three dinners using those ingredients. To play, head here.
First up, Cup of Jo’s
shares the 40 ingredients she always has on hand. In honor of her Substack , I came up with three BIG SALADS that use only her ingredients so she can big-salad (new verb) at a moment’s notice.Joanna Goddard’s 40 Forever Ingredients
Fridge: eggs, really good salted butter, whole milk, sour cream, cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese, hummus, dijon mustard, diced ginger, diced garlic, spinach, hot sauce, mustard, mayo, syrup
Counter: honeycrisp apples, bananas, lemons, potatoes, broccoli, cucumbers, onions
Pantry: Olive oil, balsamic, red wine vinegar, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper, everything but the bagel seasoning, capers, castelvetrano olives, cheerios lol, flour tortillas, black beans, chickpeas, rice, pasta (all shapes!), rao's marinara sauce, chicken broth/stock, peanut butter, jam
Three Big Salads Using Joanna’s Ingredients
🥗Greek chef’s salad
Salads with stuff lined up in neat rows is just more fun. Cover a big plate with spinach, season it with S&P, then on top of the spinach, arrange rows of pitted olives, chopped cucumbers, and drained and rinsed chickpeas. Drizzle the chickpeas with hot sauce. If you feel like it, boil some eggs and little potatoes and add those too. If you have some herbs, feta, or leftover chicken or other protein, those would make good rows, too. Add a scoop of hummus.
For salads that aren’t getting tossed in dressing, it’s especially important to season the raw stuff with salt and pepper; do that now. Then stir up a little vinaigrette with olive oil, lemon juice and diced garlic to drizzle on your salad.
🥯Everything bagel egg salad
Everything with everything bagel is just more fun. And you know what egg salad could use? Toasty garlic and onion and crunch. Boil some eggs, chop them up, and add them to a bowl. Add a long squirt of mayo, a short squirt of Dijon, a few shakes of hot sauce, a spoonful of capers, a dribble of caper brine, and a few shakes of everything bagel seasoning. If those onions are red, chop a little onion and add it to the bowl. Season with salt and pepper, then stir it up until creamy. Taste and adjust seasonings: If too dry or salty, add mayo; if bland, add Dijon and everything bagel seasoning. You must have crackers hiding somewhere to eat this with.
🥦Broccoli, cheddar, and apple spoon salad
Shoveling salad with a spoon is just more fun. Cut broccoli into florets small enough to fit on your spoon (I usually get impatient and just roughly chop it). Drop the broccoli into salted boiling water for just a minute or two, until the broccoli is bright green. Drain and shake dry.
In a big bowl, stir together olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, maple syrup, and S&P—say 3 tablespoons oil, 2 tablespoons vinegar, 1 teaspoon mustard, and 1 teaspoon maple syrup. Add the broccoli and cubed cheddar and apple. Season to taste with S&P.
The cook: Susan (she/her)
Occupation: Retired
Residing in: Wisconsin
Feeding: 2 people
Notes: Can’t eat crunchy or hard foods; I have MS & don't have much energy, stamina, or attention in the kitchen. We do a lot of "bowls," dals, & soup. Ready for new ideas!
Forever ingredients:
Proteins and starches: Lentils (red, brown/green, black, de puy), beans (garbanzo, pinto, great northern, black), eggs, peanut butter, farro, brown rice, milk, plain yogurt, pistachios, cashews (raw and unsalted), flour
Vegetables: Sweet potatoes, scallions, spinach (fresh & frozen, chopped or baby), green beans (frozen), onions (purple & yellow), canned tomatoes,
Flavorings: Lemons, limes, kimchi, tahini, cumin, za’atar, coriander, Mexican oregano, ancho chili powder, garam masala, cinnamon, yellow curry paste, Better Than Bouillon (low-sodium chicken flavor), butter, EVOO, toasted sesame oil, salt & pepper, Cholula, fish sauce, soy sauce