Know your good food ingredients, how to select and store them, and ways to adapt if things don’t go as planned.
The goals for this module:
Required: watch and complete the recap for each lesson
Let’s get a good understanding of our whole-food friends—cooking confidence starts with familiarity!
Timestamps:
01:28 Ingredient Index
02:05 Alliums
02:25 Berries
02:46 Brassicas
03:11 Citrus
03:27 Grains
04:09 Hearty Greens
04:33 Lettuces
04:53 Mushrooms
05:18 Nightshades
05:28 Pome Fruit
05:39 Pulses
06:03 Rice
06:34 Roots & Tubers
07:11 Stone Fruit
07:22 Summer Melon
07:32 Summer Squash
07:48 Tender Greens
08:00 Winter Squash
08:16 Lesson Action
Tips to master shopping every time.
Timestamps:
00:43 Make a List
01:28 Eat Before You Shop
01:45 The Perimeter
02:04 Bulk
03:14 Know Who’s Growing Your Food
05:28 Lesson Action
Keeping the pantry stocked makes good food cooking effortless and fun.
Remember: use the Ingredients Index when shopping and organizing to help you understand everything you need to know about ingredients.
Timestamps:
00:55 Pulses
02:24 Rice
03:25 Dried Herbs
04:58 Dry Spices & Spice Blends
07:24 Dry Noodles
09:36 Grains
10:26 Oils
12:28 Vinegars
13:30 Sweeteners
14:56 Flours
16:59 Sea Salt
17:51 Nuts & Seeds
19:42 Lesson Action
Keeping the fridge and freezer stocked makes good food cooking easy.
Timestamps:
00:40 Frozen Fruit
01:09 Frozen Veggies
01:38 Nut & Seed Milks
02:36 Dressings & Sauces
03:29 Condiments
04:05 Tortillas & Wraps
04:52 Lesson Action
Ethylene is a gaseous ripening hormone—storing ethylene producing produce near non-ethylene producers can either kick-start ripening or speed up decay. Learn how to use ethylene to your advantage and store produce properly for longest shelf life.
Timestamps:
00:44 Produce & Ethylene
02:06 Ethylene Producers
02:39 Ethylene Sensitive
03:26 Lesson Action
A general breakdown of ingredients to store on the countertop.
Remember: refer to the Ingredients Index for selection and storage info on specific ingredients.
Timestamps:
00:48 Avocados
01:27 Bananas
02:03 Citrus
02:25 Onions, Shallots, Garlic
03:17 Pome Fruit
04:06 Potatoes
04:37 Sweet Potatoes & Yams
05:17 Stone Fruit
05:44 Summer Melon
06:24 Tomatoes
07:16 Winter Squash
08:15 Lesson Action
Cold temps slow the maturation process for produce—refrigeration can be a great way to extend shelf life.
Timestamps:
01:04 Asparagus
01:39 Beets
03:00 Berries
04:03 Broccoli & Cauliflower
05:14 Brussels Sprouts
05:35 Carrots
06:14 Celery
06:51 Cherries
07:18 Ginger Root
07:47 Green Beans
08:13 Hearty Greens
08:37 Herbs
09:06 Lettuces
09:48 Mushrooms
10:47 Peppers
11:04 Sugar Snap & Snow Peas
11:30 Summer Squash
12:24 Lesson Action
When you’ve bought, grown, cooked too much good food, or you want to stay prepared in advance, the freezer can be your BFF. It’s like the good food “pause” button.
Timestamps:
01:00 Blanch
01:33 Make It Airtight
02:05 Freeze in Portions
02:47 Freeze in Pieces
03:11 Lemon Juice
03:37 Herbs
04:37 Oil & Seasoning Cubes
05:35 Defrost Like a Pro
06:33 Lesson Action
Get the most out of your purchases with these tips and tricks.
Timestamps:
00:57 Browned Bananas
01:42 Bruised/Withering Fruit
02:18 Green Tops
02:56 Herb Stems
03:15 Overripe Avocados
03:41 Revive
04:09 Scraps
04:41 Stalks
04:55 Lesson Action
Recommended: prepare a minimum of 1 recipe
You’ve been busy getting the kitchen and pantry in good food shape this week. Before we dive into all the good food cooking techniques, here are a few easy and delicious recipes to try using the goods that you’ve just stored like a pro. These recipes will challenge you to think of ingredients in new ways and help you begin to cook without recipes. Use the ingredients you have on hand to prepare something good, fast.
Now, this recipe calls for pre-cooked ingredients like rice and grains—techniques we haven’t officially gone over yet. You’ll also see ingredients that are pre-chopped and diced. Just use the cooking techniques and knife skills that you already know, or the manufacturer’s instructions to prepare them at this point—it doesn’t have to be perfect! We’ll dive deeper into these techniques and sharpen your skills more very soon. These recipes are about taste and quick-meal prep more than technique. Have fun with it.
Turning overripe avocados into a chocolate-y dessert treat is zero-food-waste cooking at its best, but definitely try this one with ripe avocados, too. We share a few secret ingredients to make this an Avocado Pudding one to rival them all!
Helpful and inspiring books, articles, recipes, shopping links, and more for good food cooking.
When it comes to planning ahead, the freezer and batch cooking are your best friends. Meal prep doesn’t have to be complicated or a super-organized effort with stacks of labels, printouts, and binders.
Here’s the secret: cook as normal and make a little more.
Utilize these game-changing tips and tricks as you cook your way through this course, and beyond. Your future self thanks you.
Use this guide to help you downsize a recipe, or upsize it for batch cooking.
Some of these links take you directly to affiliate partner sites. You’re welcome to skip these links to research and buy products wherever, or however you like.
Before shopping for ingredients, get the ultimate resources to help you reduce your toxic pesticide exposure.
Drying fresh herbs is easy, and a great way to use up and store fresh herbs from the market, a garden, or a windowsill.
When you start cooking with more fresh ingredients, especially in summer, fruit flies can become a reality. If they do, we’ve got a trick to keep them away.
One of the first steps to mastering produce storage is understanding the power of the ripening hormone ethylene.
Here are some extra tips to help you maximize your purchases when storing in the fridge and freezer.
Academy of Culinary Nutrition Founder Megan Telpner, and her Functional-Nutritionist husband and ACN instructor, Josh Gitalis, provide simple tips to keep you from being fooled by the label in this important episode of Today’s the Day podcast.
Try these recipes if you like, or save them for later when you have certain produce on hand. If time allows: try making some Freezer Cubes this week for easy, flavorful, future meals. They’d be great with sautéed greens or as the base for a bisque.
Also try these extra recipes:
These are some of the tools and appliances we’ll be using throughout this course. Some are essential, and some are just nice-to have. We’ve listed them here for shopping convenience.
Some of these links take you directly to affiliate partner sites. You’re welcome to skip these links to research and buy products wherever, or however you like.
Some of these links take you directly to affiliate partner sites. You’re welcome to skip these links to research and buy products wherever, or however you like.
100 recipes + 30 recipe templates to help you create incredible meals from what you have on hand—as seen in O Magazine and on Oprah.com. Written by your Good Food Cooking Basics Instructor and author Heather Crosby. (plant-based, gluten-free)
150 veg-powered, gluten-free recipes for all eaters—written by your Good Food Cooking Basics Instructor and author Heather Crosby. (plant-based, gluten-free)
Learn to make gluten-free baked goods like sourdough, quick breads, flatbreads, sandwich loaves, and cookies with wholesome, minimally processed ingredients.
