Rice & Grains

I prefer caramel that flirts on the edge of burnt, especially in this rice pudding, which is inspired by classic Italian risotto. Here, cooked until it's very dark, with a smoky, bitter edge, the caramel balances the milky sweetness of the rice. This is also an unusual pudding in that it forgoes much of the milkiness of the other grain puddings in this chapter. I cook the rice in water, with just a little milk. The liquid is gradually evaporated when the rice is mixed with the caramel, leaving an intensely flavored sauce. This is very rich pudding, but that quality comes almost entirely from the caramel itself—not the dairy.

Feel free to use cooked bulgur, barley, or couscous instead of quinoa

1 slice per serving This recipe makes two loaves of a basic bread that gets its hearty, chewy texture from bulgur. The bread is great for both sandwiches and toast. If you don't want to bake both loaves at once, you can freeze half of the unbaked dough to use another time.

Cassy Vires, Home Wine Kitchen, St. Louis: "I like to take a classic pairing and turn it on its head."

This is a great meal to help you clean out your fridge. Use whatever veggies you have on hand! A cast-iron skillet will help the rice brown and fry to a crispy coating at the bottom of the dish.

Top these Tex-Mex–inspired burgers with some melted Monterey Jack and a spoonful of fresh salsa.

Yes, making this rice is a time commitment and a labor of love. But the ingredients aren't difficult to find, and the finished dish is stunning.

Grunts are a fish you'll probably never see on a menu and will most definitely never see at a fish market, especially on the West Coast. But as Charlie knows, they inhabit every dock, marina, pier, reef, and any other underwater structure in southern Florida. Because they are considered vastly inferior in taste to their snapper relatives, they're targeted for quick and easy meals by the fishermen in the Florida keys, where this breakfast dish originates. Considering grunt is largely unavailable (and truthfully, Charlie says, isn't very good), here we substitute small fillets of snapper or rockfish. This is an incredible dish—full or rich and spicy flavors, with a wild array of textures, from the pillow of creamy grits to searing fish to the crisp bacon. The classic accompaniment to grits and grunts is cheap beer, but coffee works, too.

Pea shoots are the young, tender tips and vines of the snow pea or the sugar snap pea plant. Once your plants are established and producing an abundance of pods, clip off leaf and tendril sections about 4 inches (10 cm) long. If you don't have your own plants, look for these tender shoots at farmers' markets or Asian grocery stores. Sambal oelek is an Indonesian chile paste, and tart, citrusy makrut lime leaves are used in Southeast Asian cooking.

You might like to double up the ingredients here, because this is effectively two meals in one. You start by making a wonderful, rich mushroom risotto, which you could serve warm one night (perhaps finished with a drizzle of olive oil), and then you could make these rice balls for the following evening. They are perfect with a glass of prosecco (or champagne if you haven't really gotten the hang of this economizing business).

Fast-track this recipe by tripling the dry ingredients and storing them in a jar. At breakfast time, scoop out 2 1/4 cups. All the other measurements stay the same.

The pleasantly earthy flavor of black rice pairs well with the bright acidity of this vinaigrette. If you can't find it, use wild rice instead.

Nutritional note from Junelle Lupianai: "This bar is a perfect mid-afternoon snack to bring with you to work or for your children." The oats and cereal provide whole-grain goodness, and the nuts and seeds provide plant protein and fat. Flaxseed meal is included here for its nutritional punch, but it’s optional.

Benefits: Heart + Metabolism My mother innovated constantly to satisfy her two sons' demanding palates, so she adapted quinoa with brown rice to make one of our all-time favorite foods: sushi. Once called "Inca Gold" due to its stamina-building properties, quinoa contains all the essential amino acids, rendering it a complete protein food. Its high manganese content supplies the body's production of superoxide dismutase, an enzyme that protects against free radical damage to your energy factory. Consider this an energizing longevity recipe!

Add this one to the lineup for your next spring dinner party or Sunday supper.

Risotto only sounds intimidating—if you can stir, you can make it. Poaching the eggs ahead of time should quell any lingering performance anxiety.

It's not traditional, but we love the heat that fresh ginger adds to salsa.

Adding whole wheat flour ups the nutritional value and adds a nice nutty flavor.

Parmigiano-Reggiano adds salty, nutty richness to this ratatouille, which rivals the best oven versions. To speed preparation, feel free to skip the first step of salting and rinsing the eggplant and zucchini (this process draws off any bitter juices). Instead, just remove any particularly seedy and brown parts of the eggplant, or use smaller Japanese eggplants (which also do not need to be peeled). For pizzazz, add chickpeas and pitted, chopped oil-cured black olives. To make this dish vegan, swap in olive oil for the butter and skip the cheese (adding olives will make up for cheese's saltiness). When reheating the polenta, add liquid (such as chicken stock or milk), then adjust the seasoning if necessary with more salt, pepper, and butter.