Rice & Grains

At Thanksgiving, rice stuffings are standard on many southern tables. This one, a combination of white rice and wild rice, gets more regional notes from collard greens, pecans and ham.

This impressive dish is served at Le Cirque 2000 in New York. Order two 5-pound fresh ducklings from a butcher. Ask the butcher to cut each duck into two boneless breasts, two leg pieces, and two thigh pieces. Reserve the carcasses for making the sauce. You will probably need to order the rendered duck fat as well.

Pozole Blanco con Salsa de Chile de Árbol This dish is similar to the original white pozole that was created in the 18th century. Some regions now specialize in red and green versions. If you don't have a Mexican market nearby, you may have to order the pigs' feet and pork neck bones from your butcher up to one week before you plan to make this (ask the butcher to split the pigs' feet). If substituting pork neck bones for pigs' feet, you'll need a total of 4 1/2 pounds of neck bones for the soup.

A fabulous all-in-one dish, similar to paella, from Lucques in Los Angeles.

Brewed green tea is a delicious, aromatic broth for scallops in this refined rendition of Japan's ochazuke, or "tea rice." The comforting soup-like dish evolved from using hot tea to rinse out rice bowls at the end of meals. Serve this as a light lunch or as an appetizer, followed by teriyaki-marinated chicken or salmon and some steamed Asian greens.

A hearty soup that tastes just as good when rewarmed the next day.

These are also nice for breakfast. Just top them with nonfat vanilla yogurt instead of the frozen yogurt suggested in the recipe.

Diced apple, dried apricots and golden raisins accent this 30-minute entrée.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This recipe came to be when I was preparing risotto and realized I was out of Arborio rice; I used barley instead. The results were so delicious that I now prefer this version.