To prepare meals without actually cooking, it helps to have a pantry stocked with items that add flavor but don’t require cooking.

Here’s my top-10 list of pantry staples for keeping the kitchen cool:

1. Bottled Roasted Red Peppers, Bottled Artichoke Hearts, Bottled Hot Peppers, Bottled Eggplant, Sun-Dried Tomatoes Packed in Oil. The packagers of these vegetables have done all the work for you — trimming, cooking, seasoning. All are great in salads, on sandwiches and pureed to make dips and spreads.

2. Canned Tuna. Even people who don’t ever cook usually have a can of tuna in the cabinet. Tuna is great on sandwiches and in salads. You can do a lot more with it than mix it with mayo and chopped celery. Tuna packed in olive oil and imported from Italy is rich and delicious, but if you’re counting calories, tuna packed in water is fine.

3. Canned Beans. These are a wonderful help in preparing healthy, no-cook meals. Puree them for dips, toss with dressing for salads, use them in no-cook burritos

4. Dried Chilies. I love cold food spiced with chilies. I keep a variety around so that I can prepare ”hot” no-cook dishes at a moment’s notice. Most often, I’ll turn to my trusty bottle of hot red pepper flakes. I also love canned chipotle chilies in adobo.

5. Dried Fruits. Raisins, apricots, figs, dates, and prunes are all packed with flavor. I use dried fruits often in both sweet and savory dishes when I want them to be extra rich and exotic without being high in fat

6. Frozen Shrimp. If you buy cooked, frozen shrimp, all you need to do is place them in a colander and thaw them out under cold running water for five minutes before using. I keep a couple of 12-ounce bags of cooked frozen shrimp in my freezer, so that when the urge strikes, I can put together a quick seafood meal in minutes.

7. Lemons. I always have a few lemons in the refrigerator. I use fresh lemon juice and zest to flavor all kinds of salads, sandwich dressings and fruit desserts

8. Nuts. Nuts add rich texture and flavor to sauces, salads and desserts. They contain a lot of oil and will turn rancid if stored at room temperature. But they will stay fresh for three or four months if packed in zipper-lock plastic bags and frozen.

9. Olives. Olives are indispensable in cooking and in showing hospitality. I always have black and green marinated olives on hand to offer with a drink to unexpected visitors. I chop them up to put them on salads and in sandwiches. I make olive paste for pasta and pizza. Pick up jars of black Kalamata and green Sicilian varieties at the supermarket and keep them in your refrigerator.

10. Oil and Vinegar. Extra-virgin olive oil gives an uncooked dish body that plain vegetable oil can’t. It is expensive, so I look for jugs of extra-virgin Bertolli brand at my local warehouse discount club. I keep red wine, balsamic and sherry wine vinegar on hand to use with the olive oil. In addition, I always have toasted sesame oil, soy sauce and fish sauce for Asian-flavored dressings.

When you have limited time to cook, you need all the help you can get. These quick meal tips can help make your quick meals even quicker!

Put 3 or 4 onions in a food processor at a time. Chop them all up, then store them in a covered container in the fridge. They can last a very long time. When you need chopped onion, it is all ready.

1 small onion = 1/4 cup (60 mL); 1 medium onion = 1/2 cup (125 mL)

Buy multiple sets of measuring spoons and measuring cups. When I am racing through a recipe, I don’t want to stop to rinse or wash a measuring cup. Having several sets lets me grab what I need and keep cooking. (It doesn’t take any longer to wash two cups than to wash one!)

If, like me, you often find yourself cooking with a toddler on one hip, invest in a set of flat-bottomed measuring spoons. You’ll be able to measure and add your ingredient using only one hand!

Discard the little lid with holes in it on your spice jars – at least for those spices that you usually need to measure. I find that the only spice I regularly want to sprinkle is paprika – for all the other spice jars in my drawer, the holey thing just got in the way and slowed me down.

To cut homemade pizza, use kitchen shears! (You can also use regular scissors.) This is much quicker and easier than cutting pizza with a knife. It results in a neater piece of pizza, and doesn’t leave scratches on your pizza pan!

When making mashed potatoes, don’t peel them! Choose thin-skinned potatoes, scrub them well, and just leave the skins on when you boil and mash as usual. You won’t lose the fiber and the nutrients that are in the skin and you’ll save lots of time. The mashed potatoes will taste just as wonderful as ever, and you’ll get used to the brown flecks!

If you insist on peeling your potatoes, get out a large colander. Put it on your work surface and peel the potatoes over it. You’ll be able to carry the colander of peelings to the compost pail or the garbage can without having to first scoop them out of the drainhole on the sink!
Do you have a great time-saving idea to share?