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Let's Get Organized
Essential Kitchen Tools & How to Stock your Pantry 

Stock Your Pantry

Cooking delicious meals starts with the gathering of ingredients. You’ve already set yourself up with weekly boxes of organic vegetables (with the option to add local meats, dairy, eggs, vinegar and dried legumes!) so now all you have to do is stock your pantry with some foundation ingredients to minimize extra trips to the store. 

We’ve put together the below shopping list as a guide to help you prepare for the upcoming CSA season, but remember that a sense of play and experimentation are also crucial ingredients in the kitchen - feel free to put your own spin on it!


Download this Shopping Checklist 
(check off the items you already have in your pantry, then bring the list with you to the store)
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SALT & SEASONINGS - for flavoring foods to your taste
Salt is an essential ingredient in your pantry. There are so many different kinds of salt to experiment with, but at minimum you should have kosher salt (Diamond Crystal is widely available) and finishing salt (try Maldon- it's light and flaky, so you can crush it between your fingers). Use kosher salt to season while cooking, and keep your finishing salt on the table so you can salt to taste. And don't forget the pepper! A few twists of black peppercorn is the easiest way to step up just about any dish. Soy sauce, dried chilies, coriander, cumin, and sweet paprika will also come in handy. You'll be getting plenty of fresh herbs in your CSA Share, so don't worry too much about stocking up on dried herbs. 

OLIVE OIL & VINEGARS - for cooking and dressing
Choose modestly priced olive oils for cooking and save the more expensive ones for dressing and finishing. Try to buy the youngest olive oil you can (look for the press date on the bottle) and keep it away from light and heat to keep it tasting fresh. Vinegar brings brightness to your cooking. You'll find a use for red wine, balsamic, and rice wine vinegars for dressing and vinaigrettes. 

DRY BEANS & LENTILS - for salads, soups and pasta
Beans are an inexpensive and highly nutritious source of protein, and they have an incredible shelf life in your pantry. Store beans in an airtight container in a cool, dry place. Chickpeas, Black Beans, and Lentils are all super versatile and can be purred to make dips or toss them into pastas or salads. Cooked beans are a blank slate, ready to be transformed into whatever you like! If cooking dry beans is not your thing, then canned beans are an easy alternative. 

WHOLE GRAINS, PASTA, RICE, FLOUR - versatile, delicious, and nutritious
Whole grains provide excellent nutrition and they complement a wide variety of meals. Plus they're affordable and delicious! Whole grains have a long shelf life if you store them in a cool, dry place in a sealed container, so you can stock up on bulk quantities. Look for organic grains like farro, oats, quinoa, and wheat berries in the bulk section of your grocery store. You can cook up a large batch of whole grains to use throughout the week- as a base for a salad, to add to a soup or stew, or simply to eat with a drizzle of olive oil. Also try some different varieties of rice- arborio, basmati, jasmine, brown, and wild rice all have different flavors and textures you can experiment with. Stock up on a variety of dried pastas- spaghetti, linguini, penne, rigatoni- these can all be quickly transformed into simple and satisfying meals. All-purpose flour is the workhorse of flours and is always good to have on hand. 

CHEESE & BUTTER - grate over roasted, grilled, or sautéed vegetables
With a hunk of hard cheese in the fridge you can always make quick pasta dishes, or you can grate cheese over roasted, grilled, or sautéed vegetables, or make a cheesy, salsa-style topping. Parmesan rinds are also great in soups and broths. A soft cheese like mozzarella is always perfect for cold salads, with tomatoes, of course, and you can toss chunks of it with pastas and baked dishes. 

DRIED FRUITS & NUTS - adds a pop of flavor, texture, and visual appeal
While dried fruit is a great snack, it's also great for cooking in salads, vinaigrettes, or anywhere you want a pop of bright sweet-tart flavor.  Keep raisins, dried apricots, cranberries, figs, and dates on hand. Nuts are also essential to cooking. They add tremendous flavor, texture, depth, and visual appeal, and nuts are really good for you. Some favorites are almonds, cashews, and walnuts. When used in a recipe, nuts are best roasted. Roast them first, then finely or coarsely chop and scatter them over salads and pastas or mix them into salsas. 

MEAT, EGGS, and other PROTEINS - you can add on meat and eggs through your Root 5 CSA!
You'll find you can prepare a wide variety of quick meals if your freezer is stocked with a selection of ground beef, ground pork, sausages, steaks, chops, chuck, and a few whole chickens.  The next best option is to choose a selection of local grass-fed cuts from the store or the farmers market. Alternatively, tempeh and tofu are excellent sources of protein and have a long shelf life, so you can stock up and have them on hand. 
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Download this Shopping Checklist 
(Check off the items you already have in your pantry, then bring the list with you to the store)

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Essential Tools for Your Kitchen - to get the most from your CSA!

Like any activity, cooking is more fun with the proper equipment. Here is a list of the kitchen items we recommend for storing, prepping, and cooking vegetables.
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SALAD SPINNER
This is an indispensable tool to help you efficiently wash and spin dry your abundant salad greens. Also a great way to store your clean, dry greens for several days in the fridge. 


STORAGE BAGS
Bags are essential to store, organize, and preserve the freshness of vegetables. Placing vegetables in bags will prevent drying out and wilting in the fridge. It's important to separate the greens from the roots as the greens will continue to extract water from roots and they'll loose their crunch. Try reusable mesh produce bags, or just plain old plastic bags that you can rinse out and reuse.  Ziploc bags are essential for storing prepped vegetables, or freezing portions for later use. 

GLASS CONTAINERS W/ LIDS

Large glass bowls or containers are great for storing a large amount of prepped vegetables, or dinner leftovers, great for prepping meals ahead. Mason jars (recommend wide mouth) have unlimited possibilities, a great storage tool for meal prep in addition to making salad dressings, and storing vegetables. 

SHARP CHEF'S KNIFE & PARING KNIFE
Good, sharp knives make all the difference in the kitchen. Although they can be expensive, high quality knives are worth the investment and will greatly improve your cooking experience. Make sure you keep your knives sharp! You're more likely to cut yourself with a dull knife. It requires more force to cut through the food, which can cause you to loose control. 

CUTTING BOARD
An indispensable tool for chopping all those vegetables. 

SKILLET
Whether you choose cast iron or carbon steel, a high quality skillet is an essential kitchen tool. These two options are great alternatives to "non-stick" pans, since they really are non-stick once they're seasoned. Follow the care instructions and oil the pan after cleaning it. A high quality skillet is a great investment that can last a lifetime. 

LARGE STOCK POT
A stock pot is not only important for soups and stews, but it's also used to make vegetable stock with your unused vegetables and  scraps. 

ROASTING PAN & BAKING SHEETS
Roasting vegetables is an easy strategy for preparing a lot of different vegetables quickly with delicious results. You can even freeze items after roasting! 

IMMERSION BLENDER
An immersion blender is much easier to use and clean then a regular blender, plus, it takes up less space in the kitchen. It's perfect for pureeing soups right in the pot, for making a smooth fresh tomato sauce, and for pureeing fall veggies, like squash and potatoes- just add butter, salt, and pepper!

​Y-PEELER
This type of peeler will change the way you think about peeling. Once you get the hang of it, you'll want to use it all the time. It's especially helpful for peeling winter squash, beets, or other hard to peel vegetables, plus you can use it to make super thin slices or carrots, radishes, or cucumber for a salad or small batch of quick pickles. 

MICROPLANE
While a box grater can sometimes do the trick, a microplane really is the best when it comes to grating citrus zest, ginger, and hard cheeses. It's easy to use, easy to clean, and nice and sharp!

RICE COOKER, SLOW COOKER, or INSTA POT
Helpful on busy days to assemble a home cooked meal in a hurry. Great for soups, stews, stocks, chili, braised meats, and more! Slow cookers are inexpensive, economical to use and they're great for making the most of less expensive meat cuts and vegetable trimmings. They offer a healthier method of cooking and require the minimum amount of effort. 

SPLURGE ITEM: FOOD PROCESSOR
Now this is the highest ticket item on the list and may not be something you invest in your first year, but over time most of our CSA members wind up getting one. They use it for making salsa, pesto, pizza dough, and pureeing items like soups and sauces. It’s even a great tool for shredding carrots, beets, or cauliflower “rice.”

Words to Cook By...

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  • Things that grow together in a season typically go very well together in a dish.
  • Start with raw vegetables. Take a bite so that you understand their flavors before you begin making your meal. Do this as each season progresses to learn how vegetables change. 
  • Stocking your pantry with high quality ingredients will help you cook faster and better. 
  • Don't be slave to a recipe. Add different herbs, use a new spice, omit something you don't like- you're in charge. 
  • Get organized. Read the whole recipe first, gather all the ingredients, do the messy prep first. Clean as you go.
  • Eyeball it. Get comfortable cooking without measuring cups. Your mouth, nose, eyes, and hands will tell you the right amounts.
  • Find the fun in cooking! Don't be afraid! 
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Root 5 Farm 
Danielle Allen & Ben Dana
2340 US Route 5 North
Fairlee, Vermont 05045

(802) 923-6339
[email protected]
[email protected]
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©Root 5 Farm LLC 2024 All Rights Reserved
Root 5 Farm grows certified organic vegetables and delivers throughout the Upper Valley May-December.
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  • About Us
    • Our Farming Practices
    • Meet your Farmers
    • Employment Opportunities
    • Newsletters
  • CSA Membership
    • 2025 CSA Information
    • Pick Up Locations
    • Local Partners
    • Root 5 Farm Recipes
    • CSA Handbook
    • CSA Member Log-In
  • CSA Sign Up
  • Find our Products
    • A-Z Vegetable Index
    • Restaurants & Stores
    • Power Kraut
    • Fermentation Celebration!
  • Contact Us