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Coming home late and want something good to eat, really good, but don't want to spend a lot time in the kitchen? Go to your pantry and mix some Mediterranean black olives in with canned tomatoes, add a little garlic and herbs and simmer it all while you kick off your shoes. Cook your favorite pasta, then sit down to Pasta Puttanesca. Or open the pantry and pull out some sun-dried tomatoes, walnuts, and goat cheese to add to your greens and toss together a salad worthy of a fine restaurant.

A pantry well stocked with basic items can not only enhance the flavors of your daily cooking, but make the cooking much, much easier. Many of the basic pantry items, such as olives, sun-dried tomatoes, and goat cheese, since they were already cured, marinated, and fermented, have a distinctive flavor, so each contributes to the complexity of flavors. Achieving this complexity otherwise requires a long ingredient list, plus extra time and technique.

Today's pantry is really in three parts and includes the refrigerator and freezer as well as the traditional cupboards. The cupboards store the non-perishable items such as salt, pepper, herbs and spices, flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, olive and other vegetable oils, vinegar, and canned olives. The refrigerator pantry stores items that are best kept cold. These include condiments like oil-packed dried tomatoes, pickles, opened jars of olives, and mustard, along with dairy products like cheese, cream, milk, and yogurt.

The freezer pantry is where semi-perishables like walnuts and almonds are kept. These have nut oils and can turn rancid if stored in the cupboard or even the refrigerator. The freezer pantry keeps at hand ready to use items such as puff pastry, filo dough, and piecrusts.

Of course, all these places – cupboards, refrigerator, freezer – store a multitude of food items, both perishable and non-perishable, but for key pantry items, we're talking about the sort of staples that, when used, can quickly create a stellar dish, loaded with flavor.

To maximize the use of your pantry, keep a list of the contents, then, as you use an item, replenish it. As you adapt the suggestions and recipes below to your own style of cooking, you'll find what items especially work for you and your family, and you will soon discover your family favorites.
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Olives
• Add chopped olives to cheese quesadillas
• Add chopped olives to tuna salad
• Marinate Kalamata olives in olive oil with sliced lemon
• Purée pitted green olives with olive oil and walnuts to make a spread
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Parmesan Cheese
• Grate and sprinkle on green salad
• Shave and top Broccoli
• Grate and add to basic white sauce then pour over Cauliflower
• Drain water-packed artichoke hearts and purée with freshly grated Parmesan cheese, lemon juice and olive oil to make a spread
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Canned Tomatoes
• Purée with butter, salt, pepper, and fresh basil. Heat to make a quick soup.
• Chop and add to cooked lentils or white beans.
• Chop and add to red beans, along with garlic, and onions, and cumin and chili powder for vegetarian chili.
• Chop finely and drain. Combine with minced onion, garlic, Serrano chili and cilantro to make salsa.
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Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
• Drizzle over cooked vegetables
• Use in mashed potatoes in place of butter
• Put a vanilla bean in a half cup of olive oil for 24 hours. Drizzle over fruit or soft goat cheese
• Brush peach and nectarine halves with olive oil and oven roast
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Raisins
• Add to oatmeal or any other cereal
• Add to your favorite apple pie
• Add to yogurt
• Sprinkle into green salads
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Cheddar Cheese
• Grate and sprinkle over soups
• Thinly slice for grilled cheese sandwiches
• Grate and add to taco fillings
• Grate and mix with butter for macaroni
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Flour Tortillas
• Heat to soften, then use as wrap for lettuce, cheese, and ham
• Cut into thin strips and fry for soup topping
• Stack, with butter and grated cheese in between, wrap in foil and heat
• Heat to soften, then spread with avocado and top with lettuce, tomatoes and salsa
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Goat Cheese
• Combine with shallots, salt, pepper, and cream to make a spread
• Use instead of Mozarella for Caprese salad
• Whisk goat cheese, olive oil, and vinegar together with basil to make salad dressing
• Combine with cream, sun-dried tomatoes, and marjoram to make a dip for raw vegetables
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Sun Dried Tomatoes in Olive Oil
• Add chopped to steamed broccoli along with salt and pepper
• Add chopped to mixed salad
• Add chopped to scrambled eggs or omelet
• Add chopped to biscuit dough
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Walnuts
• Toast, chop and add to oatmeal
• Toast, chop and add to green salad or whole grain salads
• Chop and add to chicken or turkey stuffing
• Toast, chop and add to rice