Vegetables

Buy produce for the meals and days you will actually cook, mixing sturdy vegetables with a few fragile ones so the week does not end in waste.

A russet potato, a hot oven, and a few plain toppings make a complete plate without a complicated filling or a long shopping list.

Wash, dry, and cook greens in a hot pan with salt and acid so a bunch becomes dinner instead of a wilted regret in the drawer.

Dry the leaves, keep salty dressings off them until serving, and pack sturdy greens differently from tender lettuce.

Sheet-pan vegetables brown instead of steam when you cut them evenly, give them space and high heat, and salt them before they hit the oven.

Vegetable soup stays lively for a second day when you salt in layers, keep greens out until the end, and store the pot in shallow containers.