"grains" news and stories

Making healthy tweaks to your fridge and pantry doesn't have to come at the cost of taste. If you're a pasta fiend, try twirling your spaghetti while getting some whole-grain advantages.

Here's a shopping guide for whole-grain pastas, organized by grain, and the classic sauces and toppings that suit them best. So opt for a warm pasta dinner -- an al dente delight that keeps family and friends coming back for more while filling them with healthful benefits.

While rice is an easy-to-prepare grain, removing its residue from pots and pans is no small feat. With these tips, it's a breeze.

Sweet corn custard. Photo: High/Low Food/Drink.

First, we were reminiscing over cartons of fresh-picked berries. Now we're swooning over seasonal sweet corn custard. That a typically savory grain could be made into such a sweet-sounding dessert is not unusual. (After all, who hasn't -- knowingly or not -- indulged in a little high-fructose corn syrup?) But the fact that it was whipped into such a smooth, butter-colored custard is a rare treat, indeed.

This multiscoop serving was captured by Andrea from High/Low Food/Drink after a late-night run to pick up a pint from restaurateur Danny Meyer's iconic New York Shake Shack. Though Andrea admits the yellow kernels were added at home "for artistic effect" only, they pop beautifully against the blue bowl, making the sweets look all the sweeter.

[Via High/Low Food/Drink]

Quinoa breadcrumbs. Photo: The Skinny Chef

Everyone loves breaded foods like chicken, fish, crispy zucchini, either to munch alone or to dip in luscious sauces. Whenever I make my buttermilk chicken fingers, they quickly disappear from the plate, but sometimes I like to shake things up and make my breading with ingredients that add health benefits and unique textures.

Quinoa
Cooked quinoa has a creamy texture that kids love, but what do you do with the leftovers? I take cold quinoa and mix it into seasoned breadcrumbs to make a healthier bread crumb coating. Dip your chicken pieces in egg and then press them into the quinoa breadcrumb mixture. Coat both sides with a thick layer of cooking spray and bake for 25 to 30 minutes in a 400 degree F oven. Quinoa not only adds dimension to the breadcrumb mixture -- it also happens to be a complete protein and contains all nine essential amino acids.

Get more of Jennifer's beneficial breadcrumb alternatives after the jump.

Risotto, like polenta and grits, is one of those dishes to which the maxim "patience is a virtue" is frequently applied. And this photo, taken by Elise at Simply Recipes, beautifully illustrates why. A bowl of creamy, nutty grains of perfectly cooked rice, crowned with mushrooms that have been sautéed and cooked in cognac and cream, is glorious payoff for the constant care that risotto requires. While the idea adding cup after cup of stock to a pot of slowly cooking rice may not be everyone's idea of fun, results such as this one prove -- to borrow yet another maxim -- that good things do indeed come to those who wait.

[Via Simply Recipes]