Rice

Sprouting wild rice is a simple and delicious way to enjoy this amazing food completely raw. The process of sprouting wild rice is called "blooming" because the seeds actually unfold, very much like little petals, revealing the pale, tender insides. It's a really fun thing to watch, however slowly, and it's groovy to eat something you've seen transform over a few days. This salad combines fresh springtime tastes and textures, all sauced up with a delicious dressing featuring bright lemon and spicy mustard. The herbs add the final layer of flavor, making this a salad that truly tastes alive! Because the rice is sprouted, it is very sweet, requiring salt in the salad—make sure to season it well to suit your own taste.

This is an elegant risotto that's fairly straightforward, though a bit messy if you're using red beets. Yellow or red, the color is spectacular and the taste will have those averse to eating beets rethinking the root. If you are following our $68 Dinner Story, reserve the greens from the beets for the Fettuccine with Asparagus, Beet Green Pesto, and Poached Egg .

The marinade is ridiculously delicious; you'll also want to use it on ribs or chicken.

Ginger adds heat and zing to this coconut rice pudding; the crunchy topping lends a welcome texture contrast.

Roast bok choy and shrimp marinated in honey and soy in a hot oven while a pot of kimchi rice steams on the stovetop for a nearly hands-off, flavor-packed dinner.

If you don't have each and every grain listed, don't stress. Use what you've got—just bump up the quantity.

This crunchy winter salad is exactly what you'll want to pack for lunch this week.

If you can't find sweet, savory dried Chinese sausage, use an equal weight of maple-cured bacon instead.

Wrap a mixture of spiced ground lamb and raw jasmine rice in layers of onion and bake in a low oven until the onions are fragrant and tender.

Jaew is a tart, smoky dipping sauce from Thailand, usually served with grilled meats and sausages. Watson takes it to a Tex-Mex place in this eggy, cheesy rice dish that might remind you of nachos (it works).

Watson, who's from Louisiana, grew up on his mom's dirty rice; that dish helped inspire this bastardized fried version. The chicken-liver base tastes very concentrated and intense on its own, but becomes nicely balanced in the finished dish.

Ellsworth uses creamy bomba rice and orange-flower water to make an elevated rice pudding for her daughter—for breakfast: "It's a weekend treat."

"At home I cook quick, healthy, and vegetarian," the chef says. Cue this soy-and-ginger-marinated tofu (no cooking required!) that tastes way better than takeout.