Rice & Grains

Cranachan is Scotland's traditional harvest-time pudding, a blend of Crowdie (an artisanal cottage cheese), cream, toasted oats, berries, whisky, and honey. Here, it's updated with crème fraîche (instead of the Crowdie), toasted hazelnuts, and grated chocolate, and served parfait-style in individual goblets. To allow the flavors to meld, assemble the parfaits ahead of time and chill them overnight before serving.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This rendition of the traditional southern side dish is served chilled.

"I visit Portland, Oregon, frequently because my son is in college there. Of the restaurants we've tried, Bread and Ink Cafe is one of the best," says Shelly Pearlman of Fairfax, California. "It's located in a funky part of town not far from the school. The squash and leek risotto I had for lunch was superb." Some shaved Parmesan and fresh sage leaves would make an attractive garnish.

This recipe is an accompaniment for Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Roasted Garlic Sauce .

Hoppin' John is a traditional southern dish of black-eyed peas and salt pork served with rice. Here, it's a risotto dotted with black-eyed peas and flavored with bacon and pancetta. This is an unconventional method for making risotto — rather than slowly adding hot stock to the rice, Rollins adds it, unheated, in just 2 batches. This will allow you more time for preparing the chops that go along with it.

There are generally two kinds of wheat berries available at natural foods stores and Middle Eastern markets: hard (high-protein) and soft (low-protein). Though either will work fine, we prefer the chewiness of the hard variety for this particular recipe. If you can find only soft wheat berries, subtract 10 minutes from the cooking time.

Hearty breakfast fare from Rick & Ann's in Berkeley, California.

Familiar sides meet in a fresh, colorful salad.

Fine-grain bulgur, sometimes labeled "good for tabbouleh," is essential to this recipe, because coarsely ground bulgur will not soften when soaked in boiling water. A late-season tomato salad or sautéed cherry tomatoes with Indian flavors complete this meal.

We decided to use sweetened flaked coconut rather than fresh coconut for this recipe because it not only saves time but enhances the overall flavor of the dish, adding a touch of subtle sweetness. Soaking the basmati rice strengthens the grains to prevent the rice from breaking down during cooking.

Freshly ground pepper makes all the difference in this simple recipe.

Known as biscuits in the United Kingdom, these rich treats get their chewy-crunchy texture from Scottish pinhead (steel-cut) oats. For a more tender cookie, use old-fashioned oats.