Main Dishes

Chili: a football season favorite!  This recipe trades the typical addition of beef with fabulous smoky-flavored freekeh for a filling vegetarian one pot dish.

I love the unusual combination of flavors in this one-dish meal. It's easy enough to make for a weeknight dinner and particularly colorful if made with red quinoa.

Meatloaf turns from mundane to marvelous, when you offer individual portions to each person in place of the usual slices.

Coconut oil is thought to have some interesting antimicrobial properties, plus, as a medium-chain fatty acid, it's digested without putting strain on the gall bladder. Or, you can ignore the health benefits – just enjoy the delicious coconut taste!

These delicious breakfast tartlets feature a creative "pie crust" made of brown rice, with a piquant, custardy filling.

Mac & Cheese is a classic, an old favorite prepared in different ways in many European countries for centuries.  It's pretty simple to make and when you use whole grain einkorn pasta, you'll get extra protein, iron, B Vitamins, fiber, trace minerals, lutein and more. The nice, nutty whole grain flavor is perfect with the creamy sauce and it really feels satisfying. Now that’s comforting!

To speed this recipe on its way to your table, the farro and the stew can be prepared up to three days ahead. Purchase the muscles the day they're to be cooked and simply reheat the stew before adding the mussels and farro in Step 4.

This tart is the perfect way to celebrate the first tomatoes of summer! It's a wonderful meatless dish that highlights fresh garden or farmer's market ingredients. Try it as an appetizer or main dish. You can top the finished dish with additional basil for a pretty presentation.

Real maple syrup and dried cranberries bring the tastes of a traditional American Thanksgiving to the table, any time of the year.

Barley goes Italian with these bell peppers stuffed with ground turkey (or beef), barley and your favorite spaghetti sauce.

Spelt is an ancient, unhybridized form of wheat. I have found that whole grain spelt flour functions very much like all purpose flour but offers you the bonus of the fiber-rich bran and nutritious germ. Refrigerate leftovers for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

Edamame are fresh soy beans. They add a great oriental touch to this delicious rice bowl.

Chicken fingers are always a huge hit with kids. Grown-ups will love these too because the quinoa coating provides extra nutrition and crunch.

Pizza just doesn't get any easier than this. Rye crispbread makes this perfect with a salad on hot summer nights.

Barley replaces the usual rice in this stir-fry filled with spicy, fresh Thai flavors and plenty of chicken and vegetables.

When I was growing up, the only whole grain my mother made was kasha, and she made it so well that I still consult her. Here’s a gluten-free variation of her kasha varnishkes, made with golden quinoa-corn elbows. Corn pasta provides great eye appeal, but you can use any type of gluten-free shaped pasta.

Here's an easy one-pot meal with freekeh, chicken, parsnips, carrots, prunes, rosemary thyme and tons of garlic, and veggie broth.  The prunes made a rich marriage between sweet and savory, plus the tender chicken and chewy grain give you all the great texture!  

Whole grains have been a traditional breakfast food for centuries. Although most recipes use oats or wheat, this one gives brown rice its chance in the breakfast spotlight and includes a great variation for your leftovers from dinner the night before.

If you're a fan of broccoli rabe, this combination will appeal to you for a casual, lusty, supper. Kamut, with its mild, buttery taste makes a good foil for the intense flavors of sausage and broccoli rabe.

These waffles are delicious with or without a topping. There's enough maple syrup in the batter that I never feel a need to pour more on top.

You can serve these pancakes anytime – not just during the holidays. But it's great to have a special hot breakfast when the family is gathered around.

This unusual cracker-like, protein-rich crust offers oats’ pleasing sweetness and amaranth’s hint of corn.

Although it might sound strange at first, adding bulgur to your hamburgers guarantees a unique texture and taste. Try this recipe with ground turkey or chicken, or try the Bulgur Meat Loaf variation included in the directions!

The rye berries are chewy and deeply nutty, the cabbage sweet, and the mustard perfectly pungent. Using a high-quality Dijon mustard is important; each grain becomes bathed an unctuous, deeply savory sauce. Great as a vegetarian, one-dish lunch or dinner, and as a side to roast pork.

Here’s a special-occasion dish that is both delicious and pretty to look at — perfect for Sunday dinner or guests. Serve this with steamed baby carrots seasoned with a dash of cumin to complement the flavors of the chicken.

The sweet flavor of spelt shines through in these simple pancakes. You can dress up these pancakes with fresh fruit, spices, or nuts, but we find the flavor of the grain is good enough to stand on its own.

You're going to want to sink your teeth into this meatless burger!  The Mediterranean flavor twist is inspiring with the sweet sundried tomatoes and salty olives.  But in truth, these millet burgers can be made with lots of the ingredients found on your supermarket’s salad bar: olives of all sorts, roasted red peppers, and the like. Just keep in mind an Italian antipasto flavor palette to create your own version.

Traditionally, paella is made with white rice, but by replacing the white with brown rice, you get great texture and a boost of nutrition.  This Spanish-inspired one-pot meal has chicken, chorizo and shrimp, but the scene-stealer in this recipe is the saffron.  Its tantalizing scent and warm flavor lend a richness to the dish that makes it unforgettable.

 A refreshing take on fish tacos, with the added nutrition of quinoa.

This whole grain pasta dish goes perfectly with a white wine. Plus, the preparation is minimal and the whole dish should be ready in just 30 minutes. Quick and delicious!

Both the cracked and whole grain freekeh make for an excellent breakfast cereal. The cooked freekeh will keep in your refrigerator for up to 8 days, so it’s readily available each morning! It can be eaten warm – like oatmeal or cold with yogurt. Be creative with what you add – fruits, cinnamon, raisins, honey and nuts! 

Chicharrones are a popular fried snack in Peru, and some chefs there are serving them with quinoa in the coating. This is a lighter version, using the technique of oven-frying to keep the coating from soaking up oil. I used red quinoa for a dramatic look, but regular quinoa will work just as well.

A golden layer of baked oats gives this chicken the crunchy deliciousness of fried chicken, but in a much healthier way. Added bonus: it's a lot less work than frying, since you simply bake the dish for a half hour while you do other things.

Using corn flour and whole wheat flour, this healthier twist on a traditional breakfast is so delicious, you'll never want to use the old recipe again!

This gluten-free pancake recipe is very versatile. If you're on a dairy-free diet, you can leave out the milk, without substituting anything in its place – just adjust the water to provide the desired thickness of batter.

Sprouted Sweet Brown Rice perfectly complements this easy stir fry. Coconut oil adds extra flavor depth, but you can substitute any other neutral vegetable oil.

The small dumplings known as kreplach can be served with a sauce, as they are here, or simply floated in broth, for a light meal. This is a gussied-up version of a simpler kreplach that is made with handmade dough.

Scrumptious shells meet delicious vegetables for a dish that's tasty and nutritious.