After-work answers to the what's for dinner question are found in your pantry

Avoid the after-work-urge to cruise through the corner drive-in restaurant. There are plenty of handy items in your pantry that quickly come together for a fun and filling supper. The secret is to keep your pantry stocked with staples that you like to mix into your meals.

One of our family favorite week day meals is Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad. The spicy dressing includes the distinct taste of anchovies. I also use this ingredient in pasta sauce, on homemade pizza and in a simple hors d'oeuvres, which combines them with roasted red peppers. Because I use them so often, and in many different ways, a tin of anchovies is the perfect staple to keep in my pantry.

On the other hand, I use hazelnuts to make Hazelnut Heart Cookies, which I only serve on Valentine's Day. Therefore, I don't stock up on hazelnuts and allow them to take up valuable space.

Come up with a list of your favorite pantry items. Start by sorting through the ingredients that you already have. See that bag of sliced almonds? Has it been hiding in your cupboard since your last batch of holiday cookies? If so, it needs to go.

How many jars of sweet pickles, barbecue sauce, ranch dressing, or pitted olives do you need? Should you stock up on red beans, black beans, dried lentils or green beans? The answer is simple. Select those items that temp your taste buds.

My solution to a well thought-out pantry is to remove those items that you have stored forever. Using sliced almonds in your holiday cookies necessitates that you buy them once a year. Do not keep them stocked in your pantry. But, if you drizzle ranch dressing on everything from your green salad to your baked potato or grilled chicken breast, then plan to have a full bottle in the pantry at all times.

Once you have identified your favorite pantry items, you can create dishes that you will love because they include your preferred ingredients. Here are a few simple suggestions.

• Pasta is easy to work with. Keep several varieties on hand like fettuccine, rigatoni or bow ties. You can make a simple sauce using sun dried tomatoes, black olives and canned artichokes.
• Combine canned black beans, canned corn, canned diced tomatoes and some chopped onion and garlic to make a fun salsa served with simply broiled flank steak.
• Veggie salad becomes a Salad Nicoise with the addition of canned tuna.
• A simple sauce for baked fish is made by sautéing diced onions, and then adding dry white wine, capers and a spoonful of tomato paste.
• A jar of pasta sauce, a box of macaroni, a package of ground meat and a few slices of cheese come together quickly to make a favorite pasta dish that we call GLOP!

You can cook a bunch of great meals when you have the ingredients already sitting in your pantry, ready for you to pluck them from the shelf. Take a few moments to organize your pantry and you will find that preparing midweek meals, with ingredients that you have on hand, is not only a quick and simple solution to the what's for dinner question, but also one that satisfies your particular palette.

Email me with your ideas for simple midweek meals using ingredients that you stock in your pantry. We will share them with other BlueSuitMoms.

Also see:
• Dinner in 15 minutes or less
• Making the most of your food dollar

Jorj Morgan is the Lifestyle Director of BlueSuitMom.com and the author of At Home In The Kitchen, a cookbook due in spring 2001.