No fridge? No problem!

When the forecast is "superstorm" and you're not in the evacuation zone, beyond buying bottled water, batteries and a full tank of gas, you can also prepare to eat better than processed canned or boxed foods full of sugar, salt, additives and preservatives.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, here in coastal NYC, if our homes weren't destroyed we still had to deal with days or weeks of power outages. That meant getting a gas generator or going fridgeless. And fuggedabout ordering in! Everything was closed. As it turned out, my block in "Zone B" didn't lose power for long but I planned for the possibility.

As a vegan, free from meat and dairy, I realized I could do fine without my fridge and feed my family of five really well. I began browsing my recipe repertoire for fridge-free potential. I already kept plenty of shelf-stable ingredients such as oils, vinegar-based condiments, bouillon, dry or canned beans, grains, pasta, nuts, textured vegetable protein (TVP), vital wheat gluten, canned corn, canned tomatoes, fresh potatoes, onions, garlic, etc. If necessary, veggies that I would normally refrigerate would be fine on the countertop and get used quickly. Food shopping after Sandy was a challenge but not totally impossible. Most supermarkets were closed for a long time but a few fruit stores and bodegas were open and somewhat stocked so it was possible to buy some fresh things every few days.

I have tagged recipes “fridge-free” only if they easily qualify as written, but more may be eligible. Some may be made fridge-free by omitting a refrigerated ingredient that won't be much missed, such as tofu in a stir-fry. If the ingredient is 1/4 cup of wine you could simply enjoy the remainder of the bottle with dinner.

Of course, I’m only talking about ingredients, not cooking method. Some people may choose to unplug their fridge because it's an energy drain but will still use an electric blender, a slow cooker, an oven with an electric starter, etc. All my fridge-free recipes would suit them. But in the event that you’re cooking without any electricity at all, preparing for hurricane season or going off the grid on a camping or boating trip, many of my recipes are very doable on just a match-lit gas range top, propane stove or gas grill.

See all my recipes tagged fridge-free.