Rice & Grains

Pasta with basic tomato sauce is a weekly — ok, sometimes nightly — occurrence in our house. To keep things interesting, I’ll finish the sauce off with…well, whatever happens to be in the fridge! Here are a few of my favorite finishing touches for a simple bowl of pasta. I use these add-ins to finish quick stove-top tomato sauces all the time, but they can work well with just about any sauce you’re making, or even become the sauce itself.

By now we are all aware that most brand name brown sugar is actually white sugar with the molasses added back in. And dark brown sugar is the same thing, just with a little more molasses. But what about those extra dark, artisanal brown sugars? Are they worth the extra cash? And what exactly is muscovado sugar? What is muscovado sugar? Simply put, this is an unrefined cane sugar in which the molasses is not removed.

I’ve been eating yogurt every day for breakfast for, oh, five years now? Yes, that would certainly get boring after a while – if it was exactly the same day after day! What starts off as a plain bowl of yogurt changes daily as I add in fruit, drizzle on sweetener, or sprinkle something crunchy on top. Here are my favorites!Personally, I love plain, nonfat, unsweetened yogurt. It’s tangy and smooth, and works as a foil for just about anything I feel like putting on top.

Citric acid sounds like something the villain would use in a Batman comic, doesn’t it? And yet it turns up in ingredient lists all the time, even those of so-called organic, all-natural, healthy products. Heck, we’ve even got a bag of it in our cupboard right now, and it’s purpose might surprise you!Although the process of extracting it is rather scientific, the acid itself is a natural, organic, non-test-tube product.

No cheese or charcuterie plate is complete without cornichons for me; I must have these tart, pickled French gherkins with them. I love them with a Ploughman’s lunch, and they are a traditional accompaniment to raclette. But I started wondering; are cornichons just pickled baby cucumbers, or are they a specific kind of cucumber that grows very small? Cornichons are about the size of your pinky finger, about an inch and half in length and less than a quarter inch in diameter.

Q: I would really love to hear any suggestions you or your readers have for split peas. I love ’em, they’re yummy, cheap, healthy and make great soup.But, what else can I make with them? There must be something other than soup! Any help or insight would be lovely.Sent by AmeliaEditor: Amelia, split peas can also be cooked like lentils or other legumes into tasty dinners or creamy spreads for appetizers.

Q: I have finally started keeping canned tomatoes as a pantry staple. Many of the recipes that I use them for require a thorough draining. It seems like such a waste to throw out the juice, so I’ve been freezing it in ice cube trays.How can I put my growing frozen tomato juice reserves to use?Sent by SofiaEditor: Sofia, what a great question. We hate throwing out all that tomato juiciness too. What about pouring it into soups to amp up the flavor a bit?

It’s funny: we know brown sugar gets hard if you leave it out and we’ve developed plenty of strategies for keeping it soft, but we’ve never stopped to wonder why it gets hard in the first place. After all, other kinds of sugar are fine on their own. What makes brown sugar so special?Each crystal of brown sugar is coated with a thin layer of molasses.

Sticky, stuck caps are just something a condiment loverbarbecue saucedoesOurs is a three-part solution:1. Denial – In this phase we struggle futilely with the cap, convinced that one more rallied effort to unscrew the lid will avoid any further work on our part.2. Apply Hot Water – Once we’ve accepted the inevitable, our next trick is to run the lid under warm water.

Want fresh breath without resorting to candy mints or ducking into the restroom to brush your teeth? There are some natural solutions, some of which you may already have in your cupboard!1. Mint – Chewing on just a few raw mint leaves freshens breath in a jiffy! We’ve also found that mint tea does the job just as well.2. Parsley – If your meal comes with a sprig of parsley, try eating it when you’re finished eating!

While we haven’t given up on making our own soba noodles, we do have almost an entire bag of leftover buckwheat flour just begging to be used in creative and interesting ways. We’ve had whole buckwheat groats a few times, but we have less experience with the ground flour. Any suggestions?The challenge with buckwheat flour is two-fold. First, it has a fairly strong, bitter flavor that can easily overwhelm a recipe.

We’ve been doing a lot of baking with whole grains recently, and we see one technique pop up again and again. This is the idea of soaking the grains overnight before using them in the recipe. When it came up again in the comment thread for our Homemade Soba Noodles, we thought it was high time to learn more.

We tend to eat a lot of pizza during the summer months. Not only is pizza the perfect vehicle for fresh seasonal toppings, but we can make them on the grill or the stove top without heating up the kitchen. But we do get tired of using the same old tomato sauce as the base time and again.It seems like almost any sauce that you’d toss with pasta or pre-dinner dip can make a good base for a pizza if you pair it with the right toppings.

Just to be clear, we’re talking about packing brown sugar into a measuring cup, not in our luggage! (Although…) Recipes with brown sugar almost always call for it “packed” while most other baking ingredients are sifted or merely scooped. Why the special treatment for brown sugar?Packing brown sugar just means pressing it firmly into the measuring cup. We find it easiest to fill the measuring cup first, then press the sugar gently down using the back of a spoon.

Have you ever tried re-popping unpopped popcorn? (Also, try saying that three times fast!) Dumping those stubborn kernels in the trash has always bugged us, so we decided to start collecting them in a jar and see if we could get them to re-pop. And guess what? It worked!I didn’t do anything very special with my unpopped kernels.

Q: Do olive oils really expire? I have two great bottles at home, and being single, and not home often, they have passed their expiration dates printed on the bottle. I’m still using them, as they don’t smell any different.Are they still safe, or should I get new ones? And if they are bad, what’s a good way to dispose of leftover olive oil?

Who’d ever think that the oil squeezed from teeny tiny little sesame seeds could pack such a big punch? Just crack open a bottle and you’ll fill the entire kitchen with its intense toasted aroma. Sesame oil plays such a major supporting role in so many of our favorite Asian dishes, we doubt we could get along without it.Sesame oil is generally more of a finishing oil than a cooking oil.

Called nam pla in Thailand and nuoc mam in Vietnam, fish sauce is an essential seasoning ingredient in many Southeast Asian dishesFish sauce is made from salted, fermented fish. Anchovies are typical, but other kinds of seafood are sometimes used. The exact method and recipe can differ from region to region and country to country depending on what is traditional or readily available.Counter-intuitively, the longer the fish are fermented, the less fishy tasting the resulting sauce.

There’s something that really irks us when we read over a new curry recipe and see “curry paste, found in the international aisle” listed as one of the ingredients. Not only have we rarely found curry paste at any grocery store, but this seems like something we should be able to make ourselves. Apparently Jamie Oliver agrees!We recently discovered Jamie Oliver’s instructions for five basic Indian curry pastes on his website and did a little dance for joy.

Q: For reasons I’m not entirely sure of, my husband recently purchased a small case of amchur powder. Now we’re the proud owners of ten 3.5 ounce containers of amchur and I have no clue what do with it!Any suggestions on what to make with all that amchur powder??Sent by VirginiaEditor: Amchur (also spelled amchoor) powder is a very sour and tangy spice made from green mangos that have been dried and powdered.

Most people are familiar with the use of mesquite firewood for barbecuing, but did you know the tree has edible pods, too? Flour made from the ground beans is becoming more readily available, and if you live in the Southwest, where mesquite trees grow, you can harvest your own beans now or later this year.Although mesquite beans and flour were an important food for many Native American tribes, they had been been largely forgotten since the late 19th century.

Q: I decided to switch to using tubed tomato paste (2x concentrated) instead of the canned variety. How can I substitute tubed paste into a recipe that calls for canned paste?Sent by AlanEditor: Alan, when we use tubed tomato paste we generally use about half of what is called for in canned tomato paste.Readers, how do you use tomato paste in a tube? Do you substitute 1:1, or change the amount?Next question?

We keep a jar of tahini almost exclusively for the endless batches of hummus and baba ghanoush we make during these hot months. But a tablespoon here and there doesn’t actually use that much, and we always end up with half the jar leftover at the end of the summer. We’re determined not to let that happen this year!It’s helped us to remember that tahini is really another kind of nut butter and can often be used just like almond butter or peanut butter.

We came across this ingredient recently in a recipe for coleslaw and had to scratch our heads. We knew that celery comes from seeds, of course. It’s just that we’d just never thought about eating them. Have you?It turns out that most commercially available celery seed does not actually come from the celery we add to our chicken noodle soup but rather from a close relative. Once dried, the tiny oblong seeds are light brown in color and pack a surprisingly powerful flavor punch.

I get a little panicky if I realize I’m low on barley. I can’t ever seem to get enough of its chewy texture or nutty-sweet flavor, and I depend it for rounding out quick weeknight meals. I probably eat more barley these days than rice! It’s definitely a good one to have in the pantry.Pearl, or pearled, barley has the outer hull and some of the outer bran removed. This gives it a more uniform shape and it’s signature polished, pearly appearance.

We’re a little obsessive about getting every last bit out of a jar of peanut butter. Usually this means scraping it with a good spatula or simply eating it with a spoon, but last night we came up with a new idea…Faced with the last dregs of peanut butter and a pan of steamed vegetables on the stove, we got inspired. We poured some coconut milk plus rice vinegar, soy sauce, maple syrup, and crushed garlic directly into the jar, shook it vigorously, and voilà: peanut dressing!

Q: My son brought these home last night and I was immediately intrigued. I’ve never encountered pickled (or “marinated” as the label says) asparagus, but I have to say, it’s pretty tasty. It has the kick of a dill pickle combined with the unique musky flavor of asparagus. I’m thinking salads. Have you guys heard of other great uses for these?

Q:  I’m wondering if you have any tips on how to store sardines and other fish that come in pull-top cans (smoked trout, kippers, mackerel…) after opening. It seems as if there should be a way to keep the opened can in the fridge for a day or two, but the top doesn’t close without making things very messy! Any ideas?Sent by MaryEditor: Mary, we often wonder about this too! We sometimes just put open cans in a small covered Tupperware box in the refrigerator.

A New Year’s tradition in Japan is eating warm, freshly pounded mochi under a thick dusting of a toasted soybean flour called kinako. Pounding mochi probably deserves to be a once-a-year task, but eating kinako shouldn’t be. Toasty and nutritious, it is as good baked into quick breads as it is sprinkled on toast, with a comforting flavor reminiscent of peanut butter.

For us, wasabi powder is one of those ingredients we bought for a specific recipe and then thought, “Huh. Ok, now what?” It’s a pretty product to have on the shelf, with its pale, lemony-lime green color, but we rarely use it. That’s a shame, really, because it adds a sharp heat that is great in a lot of dishes.Wasabi powder is the dried form of Japanese horseradish that is commonly seen as a paste on the side of your sushi plate.

During our recent visit to the Dane County Farmers’ Market in Madison, Wis., we encountered an ingredient that’s seldom seen at stores or outside of the eastern and midwestern states. Hickory nuts are an autumn treat, similar to the pecan but smaller in size and very rich and sweet in flavor.Audrey Biersach of Hickory Nut Heaven and her husband Robert started foraging for wild hickory nuts in retirement.

I just finished a week-long baking class in San Francisco where we focused on how certain ingredients function in any given recipe. Sugar came up often as more and more people are experimenting with natural sugars instead of white, refined sugar. But I left the class wondering: is brown sugar really better for you? Is Turbinado sugar an even better choice? When it comes right down to it, brown sugar and Turbinado sugar are both still sugar.

About halfway through last week’s post on almond-rich bostock, we realized that we were getting frangipane and marzipan confused. In fact, we’ve been getting them confused for years. Since they both use almond paste and have similar-sounding names, we’re guessing we’re not alone!From what we understand, the main differences between frangipane and marzipan are what gets mixed into the almond paste and how they’re used.

As curious cooks and condiment lovers, we have tackled recipes for homemade ketchup, hand-beaten mayonnaise, and DIY hot sauce. Now, inspired by a recent piece in the Guardian, we’re about to add mustard to the list.An except from The Mustard Book by Rosamund Man and Robin Weir makes the process sound time-consuming, but not difficult. With the help of a food processor, “making mustard is easy,” the authors write.

Inferior though it may be to homemade stock, the truth is that we depend on store-bought broth to help us with a lot of our quick weeknight dinners. Here are a few easy ways to amp up the flavor in those cans to give us some truly tasty meals.If you have time, let the broth simmer on its own with some of the add-ins below for at least fifteen minutes before using it. We often do this while we’re prepping the rest of the ingredients for the dish.

Look at the gorgeous heirloom popcorn we found on our recent trip to the Midwest! Now that we have experienced this diversity of color and flavor, we don’t think we can ever go back to “standard” popcorn. Can’t find heirloom popcorn at your local farmers’ market or store? Don’t worry, we have some online resources for you…Emma first posted about red, white, and blue popcornSome heirloom varieties may even be hundreds or even thousands of years old.

Whether you mix your own or use a store-bought blend, pumpkin pie spice has many uses beyond pie.This warm combination of quintessential autumn spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves can be used in dishes both savory and sweet.1. Add it to coffee: Mix pumpkin pie spice with your coffee grounds, or sprinkle it on your DIY Pumpkin Spice Latte (Just Like Starbucks!).2. Mix it into whipped cream: And then dollop over pies from pumpkin to apple and pecan.3.

If you’re a fan of Asian desserts, you’re probably familiar with black-sesame-flavored sweets. And perhaps occasionally while nibbling on a slice of black sesame cake, you’ve wondered just how the bakery got such a deep toasty flavor and inky color into its cake. It was always a mystery to us, until we discovered the secret ingredient.Black sesame paste is a thick, tar-black puree of pure roasted black sesame seeds.

No matter where I am or what time of year it is, one whiff of poultry seasoning instantly transports me to Thanksgiving morning with my mom and Grandma. This herb-based blend is a classic this time of year, but you don’t have to limit its use to Thanksgiving, or to poultry.Read on for a basic recipe, some good store-bought brands, and ways to use it.The basic ingredients in poultry seasoning are dried sage and thyme, which give the blend an aromatic, woodsy flavor.

For adding an extra kick to everything from a pot of chili to roast chicken, we’ve started turning to chiles en adobo. They have a smoky and slightly sweet flavor, and just one of them is spicy enough to make our toes tingle.Do you love them, too?Most cans of chiles en adobo contain chipotle peppers marinated in a tangy-sweet red sauce.

This might be an idea you’re already familiar with, but sometimes those fancy bottles of olive oil just call to me from their supermarket shelf, begging to be purchased. If you’re splurging this holiday season, be sure to know how NOT to use them!Sometimes, when you feel like splurging for a holiday dinner or a special occasion, it’s tempting to buy the best oil you can find.

Since it’s Soup Week it seems like an appropriate time for a confession. I Sarah Trover am not a huge fan of soup. I’d much prefer a hearty bowl of stew or chowder, something with a little body, instead of a thin broth-based meal. That isn’t to say that thin or creamy soups aren’t tasty, but when given the choice, I’ll go for thick over clear and thin every time. Because of that, potato starch is my go-to thickener and — dare I say — my soup BFF.

This is where you want to use that really fantastic bottle of extra-virgin olive oil that you’ve been saving for a special occasion. Trust us, a little drizzle of that liquid gold in each bowl will take your soup to the next level. Have you ever tried this?You don’t need much. Just a tablespoon of oil perfumes the hot soup and adds a special richness to each bite. The floating oil looks so fancy as you bring the soup to the table, too!

On its own, tofu is fairly bland and unexciting. But, oh, the wonders that quivering block of soy contains! A quick marinade, some time in the oven, or fried until golden, and tofu becomes something delicious and dinner-worthy. Here are some of our favorite ways to cook with it. What are yours?For most of our weeknight dinners, we’re cooking with extra-firm tofu. This is thick enough to slice and firm enough to stand up through cooking.1.

Replacing wheat flour with a gluten-free substitute is not nearly so simple or straightforward as we would like. No other flour can singlehandedly duplicate all the characteristics we love in wheat, but blending several different flours together can get mighty close. What’s your favorite gluten-free flour mix?We think buying a pre-blended mix is a good way to go if you’re just starting out or bake infrequently.

Many of the gluten-free recipes we have here at The Kitchn contain oats. We rely quite a lot, in fact, on oats and oat flour when cooking for friends who are gluten-intolerant. But, as you may have noticed, there is some question about oats and whether they are actually safe for gluten-intolerant folks.So here’s the big question: Are oats truly gluten-free? Read on for the answer.The short answer is YES — non-contaminated, pure oats are gluten-free.

I have been aware of gluten-free cooking and celiac disease for a long time — much longer, in fact, than it has been in the public eye. One of my mother’s best friends was diagnosed with celiac disease many years ago, and ever since then I have been acutely aware of the challenges of cooking gluten-free. Every time my mother’s friend comes over I pause and look at yet another ingredient and ask myself: Is this gluten-free?

There is something extremely satisfying about using a garlic press. A knob of peeled garlic goes in the hopper, swing the arm over, and squeeze. Stress relief, plus perfect garlic! Entertaining though a garlic press might be, is it really a necessary tool in your kitchen?In its favor, a garlic press is very handy for giving you a uniformly “minced” garlic that’s much smaller than we could get by hand.

In our opinion, a golden-brown crust is the hallmark of an excellent casserole. It’s the pièce de resistance, the finishing touch, that indefinable something that makes a casserole irresistible. There are many pantry ingredients that can help finish our casseroles with a flourish. Here are our favorites.You don’t really need a lot of topping to get good flavor and crunchiness. Just a sprinkling, enough for a little burst in every bite, is all you need.

What can you do with a rock-hard loaf of bread? Besides using it as a doorstop, there are countless recipes that take advantage of stale bread — or you can use one of these simple techniques to soften it quickly…In the oven: Preheat oven to 200° or Warm setting. Wrap the bread in a damp (not soaking) towel, place on a baking sheet, and pop it in the oven for 5-10 minutes.

It’s getting to be that time of the year where I feel uninspired in the kitchen. Short a bright and tasty clementine here and there, my freezer and pantry are pretty dull. But then, in an effort to do some early spring cleaning, I started on a project to cook through all the half bags of couscous, sun-dried tomatoes, and cans of beans. And, you know what? It’s pretty fun!Last night I pulled together a dinner of Trader Joe’s Giant White Beans and couscous.

Q: My husband loves sun-dried tomatoes, so we bought some in Venice last year. But they’ve been languishing in our cupboard for months because we’re not really sure how to cook with them. Is there anything special we need to do before we eat them (e.g. soak them)? And can you recommend any recipes for using them?

Yes, one is made of flour and the other of corn. But as I stood in the grocery store the other day with one of each in my hands and a foggy memory of what the recipe called for, I had to ask myself if it really mattered which one I bought. Can’t we just substitute one for the other?I think it comes down to two things: how you want to use the tortillas and which you prefer.Flour tortillas are very soft and pliable with a neutral sweetish flavor.

Nine times out of ten, recipes will guide us toward using an extract, like vanilla extract or peppermint extract, to add flavor to our baked goods.But then what are those tantalizing bottles of flavoring oils doing on the shelf? Ever wonder when we might use those oils instead?Flavoring extracts are usually made by literally extracting the flavor of the source ingredient into a liquid base, usually alcohol.

We know all about the difference between coconut milk and cream but lately we’ve been hearing lots of people talk about coconut water and juice. What are they, exactly, and is there a difference between them? And does it matter whether you buy it in a bottle, carton, can, or shell?The short answer is no, there is no real difference between coconut water and coconut juice. Both refer to the clear, slightly sweet and refreshing liquid found inside young green coconuts.

Ever had a few cloves of garlic start to sprout while tucked away in the dark recesses of your pantry? Older garlic like this is still safe for eating, but it can start to have a slightly bitter taste. This two-second solution that can help.It’s really only that inner germ, the part that starts to sprout, that starts losing its garlic flavor.

I don’t know about you, but my evenings often involve a last-minute scramble to get the next day’s lunches prepped and portioned before bedtime. The last thing I want to do is wait around for a pot of rice or a batch of beans to cool down. That’s when I pull out my baking sheet. Grains, beans, and legumes left in the pot can take a long time to cool to room temperature. Both the pot and whatever is inside it tend to hold that heat in rather than letting it go.

Recently a friend gave us a packet of richly scented vanilla fleur de selsalt caramelsmacaronsAlthough we mostly imagine using this aromatic seasoning to enhance sweets, it also brings to mind the vanilla in tomato soup trick we discovered a couple years ago. Can you think of any other savory dishes that would benefit from a pinch of vanilla fleur de sel? How would you use it?

Q: I recently bought a bulk-sized batch of tofu, only to get home and discover it is of the silken kind.What can I do with silken tofu? Most of the recipes I see are for firm tofu that you either bake or sauté. What can I do with the silken kind?Sent by JoyceEditor: Joyce, we love using silken or soft tofu in nearly any dish that calls for firm tofu. Its texture is more delicate and silky; it just takes a little more skill to keep it from crumbling into pieces.

Q: Can you substitute cacao powder for cocoa powder in recipes?I bought Navitas Naturals Organic Raw Cacao Powder at Whole Foods, and I wanted to know if I can substitute the powder for cocoa powder in recipes, like brownie recipes.Sent by MiaEditor: Mia, I have read a few different perspectives on cacao versus cocoa powder, and while there is some debate over the merits of raw processing, the two ingredients really do seem to be nearly identical.

Croutons are so yesterday. According to to Evan Kleiman and Russ Parsons on this past week’s episode of Good Food, buttery and crunchy breadcrumbs are totally where it’s at.These two were as giddy as school kids as they described tossing breadcrumbs into green salads. In Kleiman’s words, “Sometimes people have problems with breadcrumbs: they’re too big or they’re too hard.

Have you ever had nasturtium capers? We traded some elderflower cordial for a jar of these homemade pickles at a recent food swapWe have enjoyed the nasturtiumSometimes referred to as “poor man’s capers,” the seeds can be pickled in a brine of vinegar and spices; Heather used peppercorns, mustard seeds, bay leaves, and thyme. Their tangy flavor is quite similar to genuine capers, and they’re delightfully crunchy.

Sure, coriander, cinnamon, and paprika are all spices, just as thyme, rosemary, and mint are all herbs. It’s amazing how often we use these herbs and spices in our cooking, and yet, have you ever really thought about why spices are spices and why herbs are herbs?It’s actually very straightforward. Once I went to the trouble of looking it up, the difference was obvious.Herbs are the leaves of the plant, while spices come from the roots, bark, and seeds.

On nearly every table in New Orleansone of TabascoCrystal has a deep, almost smoky pepper flavor. You taste that intense pepper flavor first, the heat second, and then the vinegar and saltiness come into play. Sipping spoonfuls of the raw stuff, Crystal becomes strangely addictive!The explanation is clear when you look at the ingredients. Crystal’s first ingredient is “aged red cayenne peppers.” Tabasco’s? That would be “distilled vinegar.

I wasn’t kidding last week when I said that calzones are simultaneously one of the handiest and most delicious ways to to use up leftover bits and pieces from the fridge and pantry. Judging by your responses, I’m not alone! From one calzone fan to another, what favorite fillings have you discovered?

You may only know myrtle as an ornamental shrub, something pretty to plant around the edges of the yard. What you may not know is that those shiny, spear-shaped leaves can make an excellent addition to our spice cupboards. Have you ever cooked with this herb?About the only place you’ll find myrtle being regularly used in cooking is on the Italian island of Sardinia. Like bay leaves, the whole leaf is used to infuse marinades and soups with its spicy, citrusy, and bitter flavor.

The first time I ordered tempura in Japan, I was surprised that instead of the usual bowl of dipping sauce, one or two flavored dipping salts were served alongside. Surprise turned to joy when I realized dipping salts are the perfect match for fried foods, lending a ton of flavor without weighing them down.Fried foods with a very light and crispy batter like tempura are especially good with dipping salts, because nothing interferes with the ethereal texture of the coating.

Whole wheat can be a tough sell. Sure, it’s super healthy and very good for us, just like our moms always said. But it can also weigh down baked goods and give them that distinctive bitter wheat flavor. Now, spelt? Spelt is the best of both worlds.As you can probably guess, spelt flour is ground from the spelt grain (which is also delicious in its own right).

We just can’t seem to get enough quinoa in our house. Why, we’ve even started sneaking it into our breakfasts! Sound weird? Some of these breakfast ideas might change your mind.Quinoa is really a natural fit for breakfast. Its nutty, slightly sweet flavor can go savory or sweet, and the texture of the grain lends itself to porridges and baked goods alike. If you branch out into quinoa flour, there are even more possibilities.

Tofu is one of those foods. You’re either game or you’re not. Maybe an old roommate or girlfriend cooked it for you a certain way that made you do a double-take. Not half bad. But back at home, perhaps you’re still struggling. If this is the case, we have a trick you’re going to like. In The Washington Post last week, Joe Yonan wrote a piece about tofu entitled Cooking For One: Tofu, Fuss or No Fuss.

Q: Even though I’ve read numerous articles about it, I’ve never cooked, or eaten, polenta. My husband is a fan and I’d like to start making it, so I decided to ease into it by purchasing a premade roll of the stuff. Most of the recipes I find are based on creamy polenta — any tips on how to use the kind that I have? I’m a little lost on where to start.

Q: My boyfriend recently mixed a bag of steel cut oats with quinoa and I’m not sure how I should go about cooking it or what to make!I really don’t want to waste the whole thing by dumping it out, so any suggestions or recipes to fix my situation?Sent by LilyEditor: Lily, it seems like steel cut oats and quinoa would cook well together.