Grains

Five grains we love that will add more carbs to your cooking repertoire.

This grain bowl is a choose-your-own-adventure delight. Sub in any grain, protein, or leafy green you have on hand—no matter what you choose, the deliciously easy sesame-based dressing will tie it all together. You'll have enough for at least two lunches plus leftovers. Make a double batch of the dressing to have enough for a full week of easy lunches. For a vegan version of the dish, skip the egg and up your protein with a larger serving of the broccoli/chickpea mixture.

Sorghum, a nutritious and sustainable grain, adds a pleasantly chewy bite to this simple salad from Roxana Jullapat, the co-owner and baker of Los Angeles restaurant Friends & Family. If you’re going to use sorghum grains as a salad base, she advises, presoak the sorghum at least 8 hours for the best texture, wash the grains before cooking to remove extra starch, and cook them with abundant water, like pasta. Once cooked, spread them on a sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil so the grains don’t stick together as much. Preserved lemon is a popular North African condiment made by pickling the fruit in salt and its own juice. The bracing lemony flavor adds a salty kick to this olive-, onion-, and fresh herb–laden tuna salad.

Amaranth is a powerhouse of nutrition and flavor: It is a complete protein, meaning it contains all nine essential amino acids.This take on alegría, a traditional Mexican candy made from puffed amaranth seeds, features the flavors of café de olla, a Mexican style of coffee brewed with cinnamon and orange peel and sweetened with piloncillo, a raw brown sugar with rich molasses flavor. Here, maple syrup and granulated sugar stand in for piloncillo, adding a rich chewiness. The pan is hot enough to pop the amaranth when a few drops of water evaporate on contact.

These flatbreads made with hearty, versatile millet flour are equal parts crispy and chewy, with whole cumin seeds, fresh herbs, and aromatics cooked right into the dough. The center holes allow steam to escape, resulting in a crispier roti. While they’re perfect for sopping up dal, these roti make a filling snack or lunch topped with creamy yogurt swirled with spicy tomato achaar or Indian pickle.

Any variety of dried and candied fruits can decorate this lightly sweet sticky rice dessert, but using a lucky assortment of eight is traditional. The Chinese word for the number eight, ba, sounds similar to fa, which means prosperity and confers fortuitous meaning on the dessert. For her Lunar New Year celebration, Lucky Chow producer Danielle Chang likes to decorate hers with an opulent assortment that includes candied orange peel, goji berries, amarena cherries, kumquats, lemon peel, edible flowers, mandarins, lychees, red dates (jujube), maraschino cherries, gooseberries, kiwi berries, pomegranate, dragon fruit, and sliced figs. Do not substitute sushi or other short-grain rice here; sweet glutinous rice contains a starch that helps the grains stick together without getting mushy.