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by Lauren Chattham

Busy day at work? Can't be bothered to cook? Just stock up your store cupboard with these top 10 ingredients and you'll never need to cook again

Some days, you just don't feel like fussing over food. What you need are some storecupboard staples that will help you create a meal in minutes. Here's the iVillage shopping list for non-cooks:

Red peppers, artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes and capers can all be bought in jars straight off the shelf. The packagers of these vegetables have done all the work for you: trimming, cooking and seasoning. All are great in salads, on sandwiches and puréed to make dips and spreads.
Tinned tuna. Even people who don't ever cook usually have a tin of tuna in the cupboard. Tuna is great on sandwiches and in salads, and you can do a lot more with it than just mix it with sweetcorn and mayonnaise. Tuna packed in olive oil is rich and delicious, but if you're counting calories, choose tuna in brine.
Tinned pulses. Cannellini beans, haricot beans, butter beans and chickpeas are all wonderful for preparing healthy no-cook meals. Purée them for dips, toss with dressing for salads, use them as stuffings in flatbreads and pita breads, with plenty of fresh herbs snipped in.
Dried chillies. Cold food is great spiced with chillies. Keep a variety of dried ones around so that you can prepare 'hot' no-cook dishes at a moment's notice. Better still, keep a bottle of hot chilli sauce on hand for instant fire.
Dried fruits. Raisins, apricots, figs, dates and prunes are all packed with flavour. Dried fruits are great in sweet and savoury dishes when you want them to be extra rich and exotic without being high
in fat.
Frozen prawns. If you buy cooked frozen prawns, all you need to do is place them in a colander and thaw them out under cold running water for five minutes before using. Keep a couple of bags in the freezer, so that when the urge strikes, you can put together a quick seafood meal in minutes. These will last in the freezer for around six months.
Lemons. Always keep a few lemons in the fridge. Fresh lemon juice and zest can be used to flavour all kinds of salads, sandwich dressings and fruit puddings.
Nuts. Nuts such as almonds, cashews and pine nuts add rich texture and flavour to sauces, salads and desserts. They contain a lot of oil and will turn rancid if stored at room temperature. But, they will keep for three or four months if packed in sealed plastic bags and frozen.
Olives. Indispensable in cooking, and great to have on hand to offer with a drink to unexpected guests. Chop them up and put them on salads and in sandwiches, or make olive paste for pasta and pizza. Jars of black Kalamata and green Sicilian varieties are readily available in supermarkets.
Oil and vinegar. Extra-virgin olive oil gives an uncooked dish a fuller flavour than if served with plain vegetable oil. Drizzle it over simple salads with a squeeze of lemon, smear it over toasted slices of country bread rubbed with raw garlic and topped with ripe tomatoes, and use it as the base for countless sauces and dressings. Keep red wine, balsamic and sherry wine vinegar on hand to use with the olive oil. In addition, seek out toasted sesame oil, soy sauce and fish sauce for Asian-flavoured dressings.