Maria Speck

A double boost of basil, from the pesto and the fresh leaves, gives this whole wheat couscous a flavor lift. It's perfect for busy weeknights when you are starving for quick and easy carbs. Home-cooked chickpeas taste best, but canned chickpeas work fine when you're in a rush. And pesto from a jar is a perfectly good replacement for homemade. Serve next to sautéed fish or chicken.

Across the Middle East, cinnamon is used not only to highlight the flavor of sweets but also in savory dishes—as in this Moroccan-inspired carrot salad. I toss it here with slender Kamut berries, which contribute their distinct buttery chew. Vibrantly colorful and deliciously juicy, this salad steals the show on my holiday table. Try it also next to steak, grilled lamb, or a simple roast chicken.

When an abundance of fresh vine-ripened tomatoes piles high on my mother's kitchen counter in Thessa-loniki, she cooks up a simple pot of juicy bulgur with the fruit. This classic pairing is born out of necessity in the heat of summer in many parts of the Mediterranean. It nicely accompanies lamb chops, flank steak, chicken breast, or grilled shrimp. I like to add the fruity heat of Aleppo pepper, but you may replace it here with 1 teaspoon paprika and a good dose of black pepper. If you like a more textured side, use coarse bulgur. You may need up to an additional 3/4 cup broth (for a total of 2 1/4 cups liquid) and a total cooking time of 20 to 25 minutes. I often prepare double the amount, as this side reheats well and freezes nicely for up to 1 month (add a bit of water when reheating). I don't mind that the basil darkens a bit, as it also intensifies the flavor.

Everyone needs a real butter cookie once in a while. I certainly do. These cookies showcase the intense nuttiness of amaranth flour. Rolling them in minuscule amaranth seeds gives them a playful touch and adds a nice crunch, but they are also delicious without. Fine sea salt retains some of its crystalline texture during baking, adding sparks of salt to contrast the natural sweetness of the whole grain flours. For best outcome allow the dough to chill thorougly and firm up, ideally overnight. If the dough balls become soft while you finish them with the walnuts, as in step 4, chill the baking sheet with the cookies for 20 minutes before baking.

If pizza crust seems daunting and time-consuming to make, try this easy spelt dough, which is moistened with ricotta cheese and aromatic linseed oil. This rustic dinner is stunning to behold — thinly sliced apples and fennel sit on a tangy sour cream layer and are topped with lightly crisped prosciutto. The crust is inspired by classic German dough with Quark, a delicious fresh cheese, which keeps baked goods fresh. While your dough rests, preheat the oven and prepare the toppings — voilà, dinner! Great also as a party appetizer in the early fall with a glass of rosé or dry white wine, or with a chilled lager in the summer. Use a mandoline to slice apples and fennel about 1/8 inch thick. If you don't have one, try to slice them as thinly as possible to get flavorful brown edges. If you don't own a pizza stone, preheat an inverted baking sheet for 30 minutes as described in step 3. Place the dough on a piece of parchment paper, carefully slide the paper with the dough right onto the baking sheet, and bake. While the crust will not be as crisp, it will still be delicious.

The use of countless aromatics to flavor bread lies at the center of Germany's rich whole grain baking culture. Breads are often prepared with different grains and grinds of flour to achieve distinctively textured loaves. In this 100 percent whole grain loaf, I use spelt for its pleasing mild flavor, but you can use regular whole wheat flour. Yes, this is a thick-crusted loaf, unlike any bread you will find in a U.S. supermarket or pretty much anywhere else, but the inside will be chewy and soft with seeds and spices. Give it a day, and the crust will soften from the humidity in the air. Enjoy this unusual aromatic bread with cheese and cold cuts as a simple supper, or use as a base for a nourishing sandwich. It's also delicious with a bowl of soup. This is an effortless no-knead bread made using an old technique, most recently revived by New York master baker Jim Lahey. I have taught students to make a slow-fermentation bread with minimal yeast for years, albeit in a plain old loaf pan — initially inspired by a recipe by German cookbook author Luise Brüggemann. I credit Lahey with introducing me to the use of a lidded heavy pot and a simple folding technique to get a truly spectacular artisinal bread — no wonder his method has won him cult status. If the lid of your Dutch oven has a plastic knob, be sure to wrap it in aluminum foil so it doesn't melt in the high heat of the oven.

The first time I tasted rose water in a milky pudding, as a child in Turkey, I was overwhelmed by its intensity. Always the curious eater, I tried again, wondering whether I could ever like this flavor, and then again — and again and again. Rose water has this effect on you. Its concentrated, bold aroma, evoking the serenity of churches or mosques, does require some getting used to, but when you do, you will never stop longing for it. In this dessert, I infuse sweet dates with rose water's heady aroma and add them to a rice pudding made with Chinese black rice. This soft-textured rice was once eaten only by the emperors of China. Lotus Foods offers a delicious heirloom variety under the trademarked label Forbidden Rice. It makes for a stunning dessert as it turns a deep burgundy hue when cooked. Choose firmer dates such as Deglet Noor for this dessert, as you don't want them to become mushy in the pudding.

saganaki是两个人操作的传统煎锅which Greeks serve aromatic one-pot dishes, typically topped with cheese. This recipe is a play on the classic shrimp and feta saganaki, to which I have added millet for a deliciously satisfying meal, finished with a dash of ouzo to infuse the shrimp with its distinctive anise flavor. A Dutch oven doubles beautifully as a serving vessel, or transfer the cooked millet to a shallow serving bowl and top the ouzo-infused shrimp.