‘The Perfect Pantry’ is a series dedicated to teaching you what you should have in your kitchen at all times if you want to eat healthily and lose weight.

Balsamic vinegar and olive oil

I’ve lumped these ingredients together because one of their uses – making the best salad dressing ever by combining them – is one of the best reasons to keep them in stock in your perfect pantry.

Balsamic vinegar can be used for all sorts of things:dressings, marinades, and sauces are among my favourites. Just make sure you get the real stuff and not something with a long ingredient list masquerading as balsamic vinegar.

Olive oil is amazing as a salad dressing and can be used for low-heat cooking too. It goes rancid at high temperatures so frying your eggs in it is a bad idea. You can also put it into tuna instead of using mayonnaise.

Again, get the real thing. It must be 100% olive oil, virgin and cold-pressed or it’s a no go. There are many oil mixtures using the word ‘olive’ in the branding to trick you into thinking there’s olive oil in the bottle.

These are two ingredients you should never be without.