My quinoa won’t win any awards for being photogenic, and sometimes it doesn’t come out the ideal al dente texture. But I can have a healthy and satisfying one-pot meal tailored to whatever cuisine I’m craving ready in 45 minutes start to finish with only a quick raid of my cupboard and 10 minutes of my attention needed.

Roasted Campari tomatoes stuffed with falafel and served with lemon-garlic roasted potatoes, a simple tomato and cucumber salad and a quick yogurt sauce.

Here’s today’s central question: should the words “fruit-flavored” and “pasta” ever go together? And if they should, could they ever compare to this lemon parsley pasta with asparagus? Find out as I review two different flavored pastas from a stall at the Pike Place Market.

With a little help from your freezer, leftover steel-cut oatmeal makes a nutritious, fast and surprisingly delicious weekday morning breakfast.

Soon after I graduated from pastry school, I got a job at the wonderful 11th Avenue Inn on Capitol Hill in Seattle. This oatmeal was my star contribution to the breakfast lineup, and it’s still my favorite thing to make for breakfast, whether entertaining guests or cooking for myself.

Crystallized ginger gives this steel-cut oatmeal the glitz to be the star of any breakfast table, while the spices and creamy texture keep it grounded in the world of comfort food.