Perfect Recipes For Cleaning Out Your Pantry

Spring-cleaning typically involves dusting, scrubbing and organizing almost every room in the house. And while your initial focus might be on decluttering your closet, there's one important area you're probably neglecting: the pantry.

Long-lost products tend to pile up inside those cupboards throughout the year. Maybe there was a buy-one-get-one sale on canned chickpeas four months ago, or perhaps you thought your recipe called for twice the amount of black beans than it actually did. While staples like rice, beans, pasta, chickpeas and lentils will last for quite a while, it's all too easy to set them, forget them and let them go to waste.

Take a break from Kondo-ing your shoe collection and make good use of everything that's been hiding behind those cabinet doors with these nine creative recipes.

When you think of black beans, tacos are probably the first thing that comes to mine. However, you can combine these savory favorites with quinoa and sweet potatoes for a hearty veggie burger.

Give your dinner a much-needed fiber boost with this rich and flavorful Persian chicken stew.

Jazz up any standard rice dish by adding puréed cucumber and diced avocado. 

Last night's quinoa can become tomorrow's breakfast with this easy almond-quinoa energy bar recipe.