Spelt

The herbed sauce in this grain dish gets a double hit of punchy dairy: Not as sharp as other acidic ingredients, buttermilk lends a unique tang and yogurt brings body and richness.

This nourishing soup is packed with creamy, chewy, and hearty textures that make the simple preparation extremely satisfying. Use stock instead of water if you’d like—but truly, you don’t need it.

We call for semi-pearled grains because they cook more quickly and have a roughened-up texture that helps them soak up the dressing. Browning them first deepens their flavor.

Make a batch of grains on Sunday and you're within striking distance of a winning dinner on any weeknight (and lunch al desko for days). Case in point: This easy stir-fry, which, when combined with the trusty #putaneggonit, is irresistible. We use kimchi juice to finish; it keeps the grains moist and gives the dish a kick.

Look for Castelvetrano olives for this salad recipe; their buttery flesh and mild flavor will convert the most olive-averse.

Kimchi gives this porridge recipe a spicy twist, while the 6-minute egg keeps it hearty and perfect for breakfast.

For this porridge recipe, pulsing long-cooking spelt, wheat berries, or barley in a blender yields a tasty base for a hearty, savory supper.

This fall grain salad combines spelt with kabocha squash that's been roasted in a smoky paprika and pomegranate molasses glaze.

I have written many quiche recipes and usually they are mushroom with a little ham, but smoked salmon in a quiche gives a lot of flavor and works beautifully with the basil.

Spelt spaghetti has an incredible nutty taste and is a great alternative to regular spaghetti, as it's high in wheat bran fiber, or beta-glucans, which help keep our cholesterol levels in check.

Packed with nutritious greens and zesty lemon, this gorgeous soup is just the thing to perk you up on a chilly weeknight.

Yes, the dough is buttery, but replacing the brown sugar with pureed dates is a nutritional game-changer.

This dish was inspired by pasta e fagiole, the classic Italian pasta and bean stew. Unlike macaroni, the grains stay nice and chewy, even when reheated days later.

Across the Middle East, cinnamon is used not only to highlight the flavor of sweets but also in savory dishes—as in this Moroccan-inspired carrot salad. I toss it here with slender Kamut berries, which contribute their distinct buttery chew. Vibrantly colorful and deliciously juicy, this salad steals the show on my holiday table. Try it also next to steak, grilled lamb, or a simple roast chicken.

Editor's note: Use this recipe to make Lara Ferroni's Vanilla Snack cakes . Like most commercial snack cake crème, this recipe contains no cream. Unlike a surprising amount of commercial snack cakes, however, this recipe does not contain beef suet. Health food? No. But a whole lot less gross than what you might find in many store-bought brands.

Despite some tall tales, Hostess Twinkies do not last forever. The box of Twinkies that my friends gave me as a gag gift were, in fact, hard as a rock in less than a year. These cream-filled chiffon cake snacks, made with real, unprocessed dairy and eggs and whole-grain flours, won't last nearly as long as preservative-laden Twinkies, but you will almost certainly gobble them up in no time at all.

A touch of sugar makes these flakey crackers equally as tasty with peanut butter as they are with cheese. Look for a fluted edge cookie cutter to make your crackers look like the classic Ritz crackers.

Store-bought rotisserie chicken adds protein to this lively, aromatic dish; omit it for a satisfying vegetarian main course. If you can't find spelt, use semi-pearled farro or whole wheat berries.

For different flavors, use different flours; they can be mixed and matched at will, as long as half of the flour is whole-wheat pastry flour, to keep them light.