If you are starting from scratch, get out your notepad and start with your lists. Figuring out the basics is also a good time to learn. Besides a refresher course on the basics, such as steaming, boiling, and pan-frying, you might want to tackle more complicated cooking tasks: stir-frying, roasting, and poaching may be new to your repertoire. Besides, you might be surprised to learn that you can grill and sauté vegetarian ingredients, cooking methods often associated with typical meat-based dishes.

You’ve learned about reading labels so you won’t accidentally pick up any product that contains meat or meat by-products. You’ve also read about reading labels for nutritional information. But there’s much more to think about when you stroll through your produce section or visit the local farmers’ markets.

For one, you want to pick out the freshest fruit or veggie you can find, avoiding those with obvious bruises or rotten spots. And that’s just the beginning. Once you get your foods home, you’ll need to know how to store and handle them to avoid contamination or spoilage.

Take stock of your equipment. If you’ve been working with hand-me-downs or inexpensive discount products, invest in your cooking by buying a good cast iron skillet, a steamer or steamer basket, a rice cooker, saucepans in several sizes, a portable or upright electric mixer, a blender and/or food processor, and even a wok.

Stocking the Staples

Sensible cooks of every persuasion stock their cupboards—and refrigerator and freezer—with some handy items, not only for use in emergency situations, but also for everyday cooking. Some examples include:

Dry Goods

• Baking powder, baking soda, and cornstarch

• Rice, including long-grain white rice, such as jasmine or basmati, and brown rice

• Legumes, such as canned and dried beans, split peas, and lentils

• Whole grains, including cracked wheat, cornmeal, and quinoa

• Flours

• Sweeteners

• Pastas, both dried and fresh

• Hot and cold cereals

Condiments and Seasonings

• Soy sauce; low-sodium soy sauce is a healthful choice

• Vinegars, such as balsamic, white, and herbed

• Extracts, including vanilla, lemon, and almond extracts

• Herbs such as dried oregano, dried thyme, ground turmeric, and ground cumin

• Spices such as ground cinnamon and cinnamon sticks, ground nutmeg, ground cloves, and ground ginger

• Ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise

• Pickles and relishes

• Beverages, including tea leaves, coffee beans, and fruit juices. Also keep handy soymilks and whole milks in steri-packed cartons.

• Oils, including olive oil and canola oil

For the Refrigerator

Although some items are perishable, these are handy in a pinch:

• Nut butters

• Tofu of varying textures

• Tempeh

• Dairy foods, such as cheese and yogurt

For the Freezer

What you store away for future use can save you cooking headaches on those days when you have no free time for cooking:

• Frozen cooked-ahead meals

• Boxes of frozen vegetables

• Premade pie crusts

• Commercial vegetarian breakfast and dinner entrées and pasta dishes

Cookware and Appliances

Stocking up on cookware and kitchen appliances can be costly, so study what’s on the market and make your selections wisely. At the very least, you’ll need a skillet, preferably a cast iron one that you can season to make nonstick—many top chefs insist on using cast iron cookware.

Select saucepans of varying sizes and purchase at least one large stockpot for cooking pastas and soups and steaming bulky vegetables, such as artichokes. Select several wooden cooking spoons, a spatula, a roasting pan and cake pans, a colander, a griddle, a vegetable steamer, and measuring cups and spoons. Other basics include a sturdy plastic cutting board or two; a flat or box cheese grater, and possibly a microplane for zesting citrus fruits and grating fresh nutmeg.

As for appliances, you may want a rice cooker—these come in many different sizes and price ranges, but small, reliable, and inexpensive models are readily available. A blender and/or a food processor is a must, as is an upright or hand-held set of electric beaters. A wok is handy for your Asian meals, and some cooks rely on an electric wok, because top models heat up quickly and get hot enough for fast stir-frying—if you choose one, pick out a wok that has a lid and a nonstick cooking surface. Many cooks invest in a slow cooker; these labor- and time-saving appliances take the stress out of mealtimes because you can come home to table-ready meals without stirring the pot once.

Cutlery

As any professional chef knows, good knives are a major investment, and while a vegetarian home cook may not need a meat chopper or a boning or fish knife, you will need high-quality carbon steel knives; these sharpen more easily and stay sharper longer than others. Consider buying a paring knife, a utility knife with an eight- to ten-inch blade (or both), a serrated knife for slicing breads and pastries, and a long slicing knife.

Avoid buying a set of knives that come packaged together, because you may end up with tools you probably can’t use. And don’t invest in knives that supposedly never need sharpening, because the cutting edges eventually become dull. And to keep your knives razor sharp, you’ll need a good knife sharpener. Ask your knife vendor or cookware store staff for the best sharpener in your price range.