Tips on how to stock the pantry from a Stamford green grocer
STAMFORD — As the coronavirus impacts daily life, and people are asked to stay indoors for long periods of time, home cooks are wondering: What’s the best way to stock the pantry and prepare nutritious meals?
“Stock rationally — you don’t need 30 bags of rice,” says Mike Geller, who owns and operates a market in Stamford. “Be calm and aware, not panicking. Have a plan in place, and be prepared.”
Geller, a Greenwich resident who quit the advertising business to open Mike’s Organic, said it makes sense for people to assess how they can get the most nutritious meals possible — while mixing in variety, ease and bulk.
“For shelf stable items, people are focusing on rice and pasta. But you want to make sure you have a varied diet, as much as you can. The key is to stay healthy, and incorporating many different things in you diet. Like canned fish,” said Geller, who works with local farmers around the region to stock his shop.
For fresh produce, which has the most nutrients, home freezing can be a good way to go. Most people are stocking up on
nonperishable goods, but Geller advises consumers not to neglect vegetables. Commercially frozen products have value, Geller said, but to get the most nutrition out of vegetables, consider buying them fresh, and storing them in the freezer.
“I’m telling people, if they’re going to buy fresh produce — broccoli, cauliflower, kale — bring them home and blanch them,” he said.
“Get some water boiling, with some salt, and dunk them for a minute. Take them out and rinse in cold water. Then you can freeze them. Put them on a baking sheet, freeze them, then put them in bags, pop them back in the freezer,” said the market owner, who is still running a delivery business and allowing three customers in the store at a time during this period of social distancing.
An easy way to get some protein with all that rice can come from a container of bone broth.
“Cook your rice in bone broth instead of water,” said the green grocer. “Chicken bone broth is something we should all be consuming, for our immune systems, and it adds a load of nutrition to the rice. Loads of protein.” That rice preparation is also a good way for children who are a bit picky, and haven’t developed a taste for meat, to get protein.
Now is also a good time to show support for small farms in the region, he said, and the concept of eating locally. He has been an advocate for local sustainable farming and agriculture,
now more than ever, Geller said.
“We work closely with the people raising and growing our food, working with small farmers. I’ve been driving to as many small farms as possible this week to maintain our supply,” said Geller. “And what I’ve heard universally from small farmers — they need the business so much. These farms are working with restaurants, and restaurants aren’t ordering any food. They need us — but we really need them. If the food system has more challenges to it, they’re going to be feeding us, not California.”
Getting recipes from family and friends can be a good way to avoid boredom in the kitchen. “Do recipe swapping with your friends, ask what they’re making. One of the things we’re really hurting for is a sense of togetherness and community. We’re all literally socially distant. Sharing recipes can maintain that sense of connection,” said Geller, who is a hunter, fisherman, gardener and gourmet chef.
For beginner cooks: make
sure all the ingredients are ready to go before starting the process. The cook should have all ingredients within an arm’s length — to avoid running to the refrigerator when a something is needed for the pan. That preparation will avoid overcooking or burning food items. “A lot of people are learning to cook, or relearning, and that’s a good thing for our country,” he said.
The response to the virus from home cooks may also get people to re-think the way they eat and conserve food, Geller said, and that won’t be a bad thing. New Englanders used to be adept at canning foods at home for long periods of time, as well as being thrifty about leftovers and stretching meals, and some of those lessons would be useful to relearn, he said.
“When I started the business 10 years ago, I thought, in many ways it’s the future, and also the past,” Geller said. “That’s kind of what we’re looking at now.”