```ruby
#
# Cookbook Name:: smith-packages
# Recipe:: default
#
# Copyright 2013-2015, Tim Smith
#
# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
# You may obtain a copy of the License at
#
#    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
#
# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
# limitations under the License.
#

node['smith-packages']['install'].each do |pkg|
  package pkg
end

node['smith-packages']['remove'].each do |pkg|
  package pkg do
   action :remove
  end
end
```

Use multipackage from Chef 12
user
```ruby
#
# Cookbook Name:: smith-packages
# Recipe:: default
#
# Copyright 2013-2015, Tim Smith
#
# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
# You may obtain a copy of the License at
#
#    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
#
# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
# limitations under the License.
#

package node['smith-packages']['install']

package node['smith-packages']['remove'] do
 action :remove
end
```
assistant