Sohla El-Waylly’s 40 go-to ingredients

+ dinners from new cookbooks (free for all!)

The first half of 2022, I came out with my own cookbook, but I was also secretly working on two others, which are only now, 1 1/2 years later, hitting bookstores.

My friend Sam Seneviratne hired me to prop-style Bake Smart (out next week), which means I picked out plates and surfaces, crumpled parchment just so—basically created environments that accentuated the deliciousness of the food. It’s easy with Sam’s baked goods, which are full of so many cool textures, I joked that I wanted no props, just food. We got away with it sometimes.

Chocolate-Cherry Marzipan Biscotti & Stuffed S'Mores Cookies from Bake Smart by Samantha Seneviratne. Photos by Johnny Miller

Sam’s love for baking and “don’t worry, it’s gonna be okay” perspective made shoot days so enjoyable, and you can feel that same spirit in her recipes. P.S. The book’s chewy chocolate chip cookies (p. 56) have become my house CCC.

I also tested the recipes in

Sohla El-Waylly

’s Start Here (out today), which means I would cook through each recipe to ensure it’s replicable for another person in another kitchen with their tools and grocery stores. I’d note moments that might be confusing, where timing or measures seemed off, how to streamline steps and dishwashing, and whether I thought the dish delivered on its promise.

Sohla, frankly, is one of the best recipe writers we’ve got. It’s rare that I feel like I can have complete confidence in a recipe, but having full trust in Sohla’s allowed me to triumphantly pull off dishes that have long eluded me. I did the things I never thought I could. If only she could teach me how to like running, too.

Cannot believe I made these.

On Thursday for paid subscribers, I’ll share my 5 favorite recipes from Start Here. Supporting 40 Ingredients Forever with a subscription helps me help you make dinner. If you can’t afford a paid subscription right now, sign up here; I’m donating 10 passes for every 100 paid subscribers. 

But now: Sohla’s 40 go-to ingredients—if she could only cook with 40 ingredients, these would be it…!

I wanted this list because 1) it’s the premise of this newsletter, 2) Sohla cooks with so many ingredients with such ease that I was curious which she found essential, and 3) she’s a new mom and might like some dinner ideas that use the ingredients she always has around, so let’s do that for her in the comments. She’s done so much for me, and I know Start Here will do so much for everyone who reads it.

Sohla El-Waylly’s 40 Forever Ingredients

PANTRY

• Diamond Crystal kosher salt

• Maldon flaky salt

• soy sauce

• Rancho Meladuco dates

• Cobanero chili flakes

• black peppercorns

• cumin seeds

• cashews

• extra virgin olive oil

• apple cider vinegar

• coconut milk

• Castelvetrano olives

• pure maple syrup

• spicy mustard

• rice

• spaghetti

FRUITS & VEGETABLES

• plum tomatoes

• yukon gold potatoes

• little gem lettuce

• fresh ginger

• serrano chilies

• lemons

• yellow onions

• garlic

• scallions

• fresh dill

• fresh cilantro

• radishes with tops

• cucumbers

• broccoli

• cabbage

PROTEINS & DAIRY

• whole chicken

• ground lamb

• eggs

• whole salmon

• dried beans

• tofu

• parmesan cheese

• yogurt

• butter

What would you make with Sohla’s ingredients?

4 Dinners using Sohla’s 40

(adapted from new cookbooks)

1. Steamed salmon liboke

Make a foil-wrapped packet like the steamed cod liboke (p. 153) in Simply West African by Pierre Thiam. On individual pieces of foil, stack sliced onion, salmon fillets, chopped tomatoes, minced garlic, grated ginger, fresh thyme if you have, salt, pepper, sliced lemon, and olive oil. Crimp the foil around the fish and bake until tender.

2. Lamb rice

Follow this recipe (p. 59) from The Simple Art of Rice by JJ Johnson, but skip the cinnamon and nutmeg, add double crushed cumin seeds, use salted water instead of stock (unless you made stock with your chicken), use sliced cabbage instead of peas, and trade in cashews for the pistachios. 

3. Beans & greens frittata

Inspired by the Friday Frittata (p. 56) in Shabbat by Adeena Sussman, whisk together eggs, Parmesan, dill, cilantro, salt, and pepper. In a large skillet, sauté chopped onions, chopped serrano, and garlic in olive oil, then add chopped radish greens to wilt. Add some cooked beans and the egg mixture, then bake in a low-temperature oven until set. 

4. Spicy chicken salad

Barely approximate the fragrant chili oil (p. 45) in Kung Food by Jon Kung—he writes “the condiment that sponsors the majority of my happiness”—by simmering crushed cumin seeds in oil, then stirring in chili flakes, sesame seeds, and coarsely ground black pepper. Then make a spicy chicken salad (p. 75): Toss a couple tablespoons of the chili oil in a bowl with shredded cooked chicken, cilantro and little gem leaves, sliced scallions, soy sauce, toasted sesame seeds, and chopped cucumbers.

P.S. You, too, can have your ingredients Tetris-ed into dinner. Head here.

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