PANTRY MUST-HAVES TO KEEP YOU ON THE STRAIGHT AND NARROW
HONEY
I HAVE used minimal sugar in my recipes and, where needed, I prefer honey instead because it is minimally processed (unlike sugar).
LEGUMES
FILL your store cupboard with dried and canned beans, lentils and peas of all types. Most dried legumes (except lentils and mung beans) should be soaked overnight to improve their digestibility and cooked according to packet instructions.
Alternatively, you can use canned legumes (which are classified as minimally processed). Dried lentils, peas and beans double in size once they have been soaked and cooked so you’ll need to soak and cook around 100g of dried legumes to be equivalent to a 400g can (which usually contains 240g of soaked and cooked legumes when drained).
WHOLEGRAINS
KEEP bags of short-grain brown rice, wholemeal pasta, wholemeal couscous, pearl barley, oats and quinoa (which is a seed or a pseudograin). Wholegrains like these are unprocessed which means they retain their fibre-rich outer layer.
NUTS AND SEEDS
THESE offer a good source of protein, omega-3 and nutrients such as magnesium, iron and B vitamins and are valuable ingredients to make healthy, unprocessed snack foods and salad toppers.
Use raw, unsalted varieties, which you can toast for more flavour. To save on cost, buy in bulk online or seek out multipack offers from your local health food store.
OILS
I RECOMMEND using extra virgin olive oil as it is the purest of unrefined oils and suitable for most home cooking. Vegetable oils crushed from seeds and nuts are also good but avoid refined oils which are usually processed using chemicals that remove nutrients, enzymes and other compounds to make them more tolerant to higher heat.
FLOURS
WHOLEGRAIN flours are ground from whole, unprocessed wheat kernels, grains and seeds so I recommend using wholemeal and spelt flour when possible. White flour is heavily processed because the wheatgerm and bran are removed before milling.
CANNED AND FROZEN VEGETABLES
THESE are both time — and cost — savers, falling into the unprocessed or minimally processed food category. Keep peas, sweetcorn and mixed vegetables (with no added salt or sugar) in your store cupboard with canned tomatoes and tomato puree.
HERBS AND SPICES
STOCK up on minimally processed butter, salt, dried herbs and spices, (ground cumin and coriander, oregano, mixed herbs, smoked paprika, curry powder and dried chillies), miso, tamari sauce and vinegar.