Rice & Grains

Plain ole dirty rice is a good thing. Add the earthy, nutty taste and toothsome texture of wild rice, and you have something even better.

Can you tell I love rice? I can’t say which one of these recipes I prefer—the spicy, tomatoey red rice or the poblano and herb flavors in the green rice variation. They are both full of flavor and complement countless dishes. Serve either one with Jalapeño-roast Pork (p. 269), and your favorite spicy black beans or grilled fish, chicken, or shrimp.

Basmati wins my vote for the best all-around rice because it is easy to cook, incredibly fragrant, and complements so many different dishes. Best of all, it’s so rich in flavor that it needs little enhancement. Before I discovered basmati I used to love to eat butter with my rice. This pilaf is definitely delicious enough to eat on its own, but I especially like it with a sprinkling of chopped scallions. (What can I say—I’m a Crescent City girl.)

Pork loves the salty, “meaty” flavor of soy sauce just as tomatoes love basil. This quick little sweet-and-hot marinade, fragrant from garlic and ginger, permeates and perfumes the meat, and helps it to caramelize over the heat. Flavored with crunchy vegetables, Quick-fried Rice makes a fresh one-pan accompaniment that is nutritious and provides great leftovers. Feel free to add a few stalks of celery or a cup of broccoli florets to the rice. If you’re pressed for time, plain white or brown rice is perfectly fine.

This is what I call a “close your eyes and sigh” dish—one of those fragrant and comforting meals that remind us what makes eating such a soul-satisfying experience. It can be served as a vegetarian entrée or as a side dish with chicken, veal, or lamb. Polenta provides the creamy base that melds alternating layers of cheese and vegetables. During baking, the flavors intermingle, and the fontina and roasted garlic provide a pleasing gooey texture. A simple tomato basil sauce brightens up the mellow flavor of the polenta. The result: a perfect confluence of luscious Italian flavors. If you have never had real Val d’Aosta fontina cheese, this is an excellent time to try it. The difference is noticeable: Val d’Aosta is firm and has a savory, slightly grassy flavor. If you are short on time, forgo the sauce; this polenta is delicious without it.

It’s not hard to imagine eating this dish at a table on the coast in Portofino, Italy. Warm spices, garlic, fresh thyme, and sunny citrus flavors create an irresistible marinade for sweet shrimp. I prefer to pour the marinated crustaceans right onto a baking sheet and roast them (a great no-fuss technique for dinner parties) until they’re just cooked. However, you could certainly sear the shrimp in a hot skillet as well. Crispy Risotto Cakes are the perfect starch to serve alongside the shrimp. Drag a forkful of the flavorful rice through the marinade and you’ll understand why this dish has been one of my entertaining staples for years. For an extra swath of color (and flavor), serve this dish with Butternut Squash Puree (p. 189).

This fabulous, herbaceous gumbo used to be primarily a meatless Lenten dish, served on Good Friday. It is a pretty rare find on menus these days, but if you should come across it, give it a try. It is a thinner, soupier gumbo than most, and you’ll be surprised how much flavor the greens impart to the broth. When I made it the first time, I thought of how wonderful oysters would taste with the herbs, so I decided to top it off with a few fried ones. You could still serve it during Lent, but don’t reserve this delicious gumbo for once a year.

This dish combines some of the best New Orleans flavors—shrimp, tasso, creamy grits, and a bit of spice—in an elegant, satisfying presentation. This dish is so popular that Donald Link, my partner and the chef at Herbsaint, couldn’t take it off the menu even if he wanted to. If you are serving this for a dinner party, make the grits the day before or in the morning, and the rest of the dish will come together quickly that night.

Don’t let your opinion of dolmades, stuffed grape leaves, rest on the ubiquitous canned versions, which are tasty but forgettable. Take the time to make these and you’ll be rewarded with a fragrant house and a satisfying savory snack for a party or simply for having on hand. Unlike most other versions I’ve had, this filling is brightly flavored and packed with aromatic ingredients—I add artichoke hearts, preserved lemon, and golden raisins. Pine nuts give these little guys a pleasing crunch, and I love the briny, herbal flavor that the grape leaves impart while they cook—this is the process that forms the sauce—in the lemony liquid.

Quinoa adds protein as well as a chewy texture to this meatless main dish. The heat of the cooked quinoa and mushrooms helps wilt the spinach; the dressing and feta pull this warm salad together.

Rhubarb is a vegetable, although it is typically used in jams and desserts; its tart flavor makes it the perfect companion for fresh strawberries, or in this case, strawberry ice cream.

Rich and creamy, risotto is Italian-style comfort food. If you like, replace the wine with an equal amount of broth. Arborio rice makes the creamiest risotto, but you can substitute medium-or long-grain white rice.

We use vegetable bouillon cubes to add to the flavor in a lot of our recipes, and they really make all the difference here, adding body and depth to this risotto. Don’t get too concerned about size when you are cutting up the butternut squash. If you have different-sized pieces the smaller ones will soften as they cook and mix in, enhancing the creaminess, and the larger pieces will retain their shape, giving the risotto more texture.

I had never tried quinoa before testing this recipe, and my verdict is that the grain with the funny name is good. The combination of vegetables and quinoa is so delicious that I would be happy with a big bowl of just that. This is even better though, because stuffing it into the onion makes an awesome and impressive dish.

Although this isn’t chile rellenos in their traditional form, it’s actually even better because it’s way easier and just as tasty. This is good for parties because you can make everything ahead of time, then just put the casserole in the oven and reheat the rice before serving.

Everyone who has ever tried this says it’s spectacular. Even my mom, who doesn’t like cheese, likes this soup, which is saying a lot. The soup itself is an awesome combination of cheese and onions. And the soda bread is so nice and crunchy on the outside and squishy on the inside. It’s quite perfect. The only proper way to eat this is to dip the bread in the soup, which means it’s an excuse to eat a lot of bread. This is a great cold weather food, although sometimes in summer I suffer through eating it with the air-conditioning turned way up.

I am an egg foo yong connoisseur, so I was completely confused when I tried it here in Phoenix. The egg patties were plain and hard and the vegetables were served on top. I found this so disturbing that for the first few months we lived here I tried every Chinese restaurant in a fifteen-mile radius that was listed in the phone book. None of them served the version I was used to, with the vegetables inside. You know what happened next: I came up with this recipe.