Notes about Recipes in this book

• Coconut buckwheat porridge with cinnamon and buttered dates

  • Astrid5555 on April 26, 2015

    This was nice, but a bit too sweet for my taste maybe because I used large Medjool dates plus the optional banana. Nice coconut flavor from the coconut water and the shredded coconut, great combination with the earthy buckwheat taste.

• My everyday muesli

  • ingabritt on September 12, 2024

    A. Thank God for this recipe! I love that its okay if yesterday me didn't plan ahead and soak the muesli overnight. Made on 9-6-24

• Minute-oatmeal puffs with anise and grapes

  • kshell on February 04, 2023

    Enjoyed by the whole family. Bonus: mostly stays together if broken into pieces to serve as finger food to a toddler. Needs closer to 2 min. in my microwave. Takes well to substitutions.

• German-style muesli-yogurt

  • adewar on November 24, 2015

    I am not sure 'muesli' is the best description but this is a delicious combination of flavours and textures - very healthy and ideal for a special weekend breakfast

• Oatmeal butternut pancakes with browned buttered nuts

  • wkhull on March 27, 2023

    These were excellent. I blended a soft honey lavender flavor goat cheese in whipped cream with confectioner's sugar. In the end it went pancakes, sliced bananas, whipped goaty cream, nuts and maple syrup. I did not have nigella seeds, so used black sesame. We made another batch with canned pumpkin and it was not nearly as good as the roasted squash. It does taste better if left overnight.

• Lemon pancakes with millet and amaranth

  • Kitchengeek on September 02, 2017

    Made 1/3 recipe, with the overnight option. The batter seems fairly thick, but they spread out on the griddle and end up wide and thin. The texture and taste are good.

• Overnight waffles with teff, coriander, and caramelized pineapples

  • dinnermints on June 06, 2015

    Delicious, with caveat: batter was WAY too runny; otherwise I would have given this a 5-star rating. I used the weight measurement for the flour, so I don't think that was the issue. But I added 1/2 cup of white whole wheat flour, and that seemed to do the trick. I used a scant 1/2 cup batter for my non-Belgian VillaWare waffle iron and that made 9 waffles. I topped waffles with 1/4 cup fresh ricotta, the caramelized pineapple cut into bite-sized pieces, and 1 tsp of coriander sugar on top. The teff flour adds a wonderfully nutty and almost chocolatey flavor/aroma. A very nice and fancy-looking breakfast for our anniversary weekend, would make again with flour adjustment.

• Irish soda bread with amaranth, cranberries, and rosemary

  • dinnermints on August 09, 2015

    Wonderful crunch from the amaranth and hint of sweetness from the cranberries. My guests loved it. Very nice version of Irish soda bread; would make again. I'm not sure why the cranberries are soaked in warm water and drained = less flavor; especially if they're already chopped. If they must be soaked, shouldn't it be overnight in something a bit alcoholic?

  • wkhull on December 25, 2019

    I used bread flour in place of amaranth flour, soaked the cranberries in warmed ruby port, and did not chop them.

• Giant spelt pancake with squash blossoms

  • dinnermints on August 11, 2015

    I love the idea of a big savory dinner pancake. This recipe was delicious, but deceptively light-seeming. I could make do with half a pancake for dinner, but my husband would need more. I'd only make it for brunch if I had some light eaters over or had a lot of other brunch offerings on hand. The flowers were pretty, but it was time-consuming to remove the stamen from each one. And Speck's instructions say to put them on the pancake with "stems facing inward," but I'd interpret the accompanying photo as stems facing outwards (which would have worked better). The balsamic vinegar at the end was perfect, would try reduced balsamic vinegar. The variations she includes would be a lot easier (and quicker) than the flowers. This would be an EXCELLENT appetizer!

• Red rice and beet cakes with honey mustard

  • dinnermints on October 17, 2015

    Flavorful cakes, and the honey mustard is the perfect accompaniment. These would be nice served on a bed of sauteed greens, with a salad that has a bit of added protein and some croutons. I made double and froze some; they freeze ok.

• Sweet potato and oat cakes with blue cheese and sage

  • urmami on October 24, 2016

    Great texture, thought a bit hard to shape/cook. Per the author's advice, I left out the nuts, and don't regret it. I almost left out the dried fruit, but decided to go ahead and add dried cranberries at the last minute, and am so glad I did - they really need the little burst of sweetness. Minus 1 star because I'm a lazy fuck and these are a tad high maintenance in that they require a little stove work to be good as leftovers: namely, over medium heat in a bit of butter. Made that way, they're so great for breakfast with a fried egg, preferably refried in the same pan in which you just cooked the egg. Best of all, this recipe is an all-purpose formula for other combinations. I can see taking it in a more Mediterranean direction with cumin, dried spearmint, feta, and chopped dried apricots; or Spanish with smoked paprika, manchego, and golden raisins...you get the idea. Really glad to have this on my oats playlist forever.

• Farro salad with roasted eggplant, caramelized onion, and pine nuts

  • VBLDCAPWL on June 10, 2018

    This salad is really excellent, but it's also surprisingly sweet. If you're not using the optional peppers, be prepared to add salt or other spices.

• Citrus boost dressing for any grain

  • dinnermints on May 15, 2016

    Lovely! Delicate but addictive flavor. I used kumquats, and put the dressing on a bulgur & black garbanzo bean salad.

• Freekeh salad with caramelized cauliflower and tuna

  • Jane on September 07, 2015

    This is one of those salads that you could add what you have available. I didn't have green onions so roasted Brussels sprouts along with the cauliflower. I skipped the tuna as I wanted it as a side. It had a good combination of flavors and textures from the chewy freekah, caramelized roasted veg, olives, capers and lemons.

  • urmami on January 22, 2017

    I love all of Maria Speck's recipes, and this is some of her finest work. Great mix of textures and complementary flavors, and easy to adapt to whatever's available. It keeps well - and tastes a bit better on the second day, even - so I love to make a big batch of this for work lunches.

• Teff polenta verde with dandelions and Parmesan

  • ccav on May 10, 2015

    This was easy to make and tasted good. I added a can of chick peas for protein to make it a main dish. WIll make again.

• Oven-roasted tofu with Mediterranean herbs

  • eliza on April 28, 2016

    An easy and tasty way to make tofu. I used organic tofu and marinated overnight in the fridge, and I also used regular soy sauce instead of sodium reduced. Also omitted the fresh herbs since I didn't have any. Served the tofu with her avocado yogurt dip also from this book.

  • dinnermints on October 15, 2020

    I would definitely make this again - very little effort, but lots of flavor. I cut the tofu (16 oz) into eight slices instead of six, marinated them for six hours, and sprayed them with oil rather than adding oil to the marinade. I added the fresh herbs, but not sure I would've missed them if l hadn't.

• Creamy millet with yogurt, avocado, and basil

  • eliza on April 28, 2016

    I made only the avocado sauce. I liked the lighter texture and lime and basil flavours. Used regular genovese basil in this dish. Served with the oven baked tofu, not an authentic use of tofu by any means but tasty nonetheless.

• Tangy farro with honey-roasted kumquats, feta, and tomatoes

  • dinnermints on May 05, 2016

    This was both delicious and lovely on the plate, and would be even lovelier with multi-colored cherry tomatoes. Changes: I made 1.5 recipe to serve six or so as a main dish, added two cups of cooked chickpeas to the tomato mixture before roasting, increased honey and olive oil (for the tomato mixture) to 2T each instead of 1T, and increased salt to 1/2 tsp. The baking sheet was a bit crowded (only one large baking sheet fits under my broiler), so I broiled it closer to 13-15min. Maybe next time I'd add the feta six minutes in or so, but it was also fine this way. The beans got a bit more texture by being broiled, and more flavor than if I'd warmed them up with the farro. I didn't drizzle the additional olive oil over the top at the end - it didn't need it. White balsamic vinegar worked great. I served some snow peas lightly sauteed with garlic on the side, which was a nice contrast visually.

• Quinoa salad with roasted red beets, blood oranges, and pomegranate

  • dinnermints on February 01, 2019

    Delicious and gorgeous on the plate. The image shown in EYB as I'm writing this doesn't do it justice - I used red quinoa and thinly wedged the beets per Speck's instructions, and the salad looks much more elegant that way. I quartered three 9" circumference beets and cooked them in my instant pot with 1 C water on high pressure for 5min + natural release = perfect, skins came off easily. Instead of blood oranges I used naval, and think they popped more against the red quinoa (otherwise it would have taken way more than three blood oranges). Reduced olive oil to 3T. Still took some time to prepare; next time I'd have the beets, dates, pomegranate seeds, and nuts prepped ahead of time.

• Freekeh soup with spicy harissa shrimp and dates

  • dinnermints on March 23, 2018

    Wonderful combination of flavors; enjoyed every bite.

• Minted barley and fennel stew with marinated feta

  • dinnermints on March 06, 2023

    Lovely flavor. I didn't marinate the feta - just put some feta on top - but next time would try that, because a pop of fresh mint flavor would have been a good addition. I doubled the recipe & added 1 tsp salt at the end. Would make this again.

• How to cook your own "cans" of lentils

  • dinnermints on March 23, 2018

    I'm no stranger to cooking lentils, but thought I'd try her method - very nice, flavorful.

• Chicken stew with honey-balsamic squash and farro

  • dinnermints on December 04, 2017

    Great flavor, would make again. I used einkorn instead of pearled farro, since it's what I had on hand, and it probably would've thickened up more with the pearled farro (although by the second day it was plenty thick). I used unpeeled kabocha, and it took much longer to cook than the recipe specified. Peeling it maybe would've speeded it up, but who wants to peel a kabocha? I'd probably just do 1/2" dice next time. Also, I'd take the chicken out and shred it before serving. Otherwise the chicken looks a bit lonely in there, and would rather not have to wrestle with a chunk of chicken in a bowl.

  • wkhull on November 03, 2018

    When making again would dice (peeled) squash 1/2" and shred chicken when done.

• Spicy beef chili with amaranth and lime

  • dinnermints on January 27, 2019

    This was okay...not the most flavorful chili I've had.

• Flemish beef stew with caramelized onions and rye

  • wkhull on February 28, 2019

    There was a very tangy unpleasant taste, which I can only guess was the oatmeal stout. Went well with roasted acorn squash.

• Fusilli with tahini yogurt and nigella seeds

  • dinnermints on September 03, 2016

    Satisfying and tasty. The sauce is enough that it could cover more - next time, I'd put a bunch of greens in with the pasta when it's almost done cooking. Also, I made this into five servings.

• Spicy honey and habanero shrimp with cherry couscous

  • dinnermints on July 26, 2016

    Fantastic! So, so flavorful; really what I've come to expect from a Maria Speck recipe. Next time I'd make sure all prep was ready before making the couscous and then the shrimp, since the couscous was a bit difficult to fluff by the time I got around to it. I even made half of it non-habanero & non-lemony for my acid reflux-suffering husband, and he still said it was really good.

• Mediterranean meat loaf with fresh herbs and tangy tomato glaze

  • Linda_E on April 16, 2025

    In case anyone is wondering, there is no ice cream in this recipe. However, it does call for fresh or dried mint and thyme leaves.

• Almond polenta tart with sherried plum compote

  • dinnermints on June 18, 2017

    Divine! Was going to serve this for dessert, but we ended up eating it for Father's Day breakfast instead, which was perfect since it's not too sweet. Made the polenta the night before, and took it out of the fridge first thing when we got up, then eventually baked it. Served it with Greek yogurt. To serve it as a dessert, smaller slices than 1/8 of the tart would be in order; it's very filling. Also, I'd add more than the 4T of honey (or add fruit liqueur!) to the compote. Berry compote would be wonderful, or lemon curd.

• Rum raisin ice cream with Kamut berries

  • dinnermints on April 28, 2018

    Just wrote this long bit about how this recipe was too sweet, and reviewing the recipe, I see I added 1/2 cup honey that WAS NOT CALLED FOR. How the eff did I get that in my head (and not notice it while making the recipe)??? Much regret. Needless to say, it's cloyingly sweet due to that mistake. I'd take away my three-star rating and leave it unrated, if I could. Otherwise, while kamut is one of my favorite grains, it really doesn't add anything to the ice cream. Usually I expect some solid little bit in a bite of ice cream to turn out to be flavor-packed chocolate or fruit or toasted nuts, but the kamut only adds some overly firm flavorless texture. If I did ever make this again, I'd try NOT adding extra sweetener (ugh!), substituting toasted almonds for kamut, and adding 1/4 tsp salt or so.

• Nantucket cranberry cake with currants and Grand Marnier

  • dinnermints on December 18, 2016

    This was quick, good, and festive; a nice thing to make from cranberries. Not especially knock-your-socks-off, but tasty. Next time I'd check the cake after 35min instead of 40. I didn't need the heavy cream.

• Chocolate nut domes with spelt flour (Panpepato)

  • dinnermints on December 18, 2016

    So delicious. Almost like little chocolate fruitcakes with a kick of black pepper. I might try long pepper in there next time. I made these for our office cookie exchange, and they were fantastic. Even forgot to let the dough rest for 25min. I didn't notice that the cookies ever appeared "matte," and for that reason overbaked the first batch a little (maybe that was because I didn't rest the dough?). All of the flavors - chocolate, nuts, orange, pepper, raisin, plus hit of booze - divine.

• Joy of Cooking

  You get the sense...Maria was absolutely in love with every recipe she developed...She's incredibly passionate and articulate about ancient grains and wants to teach others how to cook with them.

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• Huffington Post by Jamie Schler

  Best Cookbooks of 2015: ...will have you cooking ancient grains with passion! The best gift for the home cook who thinks fresh, delicious, healthy, everyday. Many are gluten free, too!

  Full review