Serious Eats
What's In Your Food Sur-Thrival Kit?
Everyone has their own version of a Food Sur-Thrival Kit, a small group of reasonably priced go-to foods that we try to keep around at all times, so that no matter how bedraggled we feel when we get home, we can whip up a pleasure-inducing, satisfying meal in 20 minutes or less at any time on any day of the year. You not only survive on these foods, you thrive on them. Hence the name.
Here's my Food Sur-Thrival Kit.
- Kossar's bialys: (fresh or sliced and frozen) A toasted bialy is just one of life's greatest and simplest eating pleasures. It supplies my daily requirement of crispness and crunchiness. Once the bialy is toasted, I melt a slice of Kraft Deli Deluxe American cheese (see below) on each half—perfecto!
- Kraft Deli Deluxe American slices: They're tangy, they taste like cheese (not cheese food), they're already sliced, and they don't have that shine that suggests they were made in a factory on another planet
- Pre-cooked Penne or Fusilli: If they pre- or par-cook pasta in good Italian restaurants we can, too. I prefer Barilla, but I sometimes have difficulty finding its penne and fusilli.
- Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano: I know the food police are going to arrest me for not grating my own, but so be it. I can live with that
- Nueske's bacon: It's smoky, it's sweet, it's porky. What more could you want out of a food? Makes anything you do with the rest of the kit better
- Allan Benton's bacon: It's in the same class as Nueske's and is a little cheaper, but it's mostly available by mail
- Patsy's or Rao's marinara sauce: I know these two brands cost a couple of bucks more than Prego, but they actually taste like sauce you would make yourself if you had the time
- Häagen-Dazs Raspberry Sorbet and Vanilla Yogurt Bar: 100 calories of fruity, sweet, creamy deliciousness