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.

To understand this recipe, you have to know one thing about me: I eat cheddar cheese on top of my banana bread. Yes, I know I’m weird. But I also know that it tastes really good. This recipe is the result of my experimentation with adding the cheese straight into the bread.

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.

This yogurt is wonderful over fruit–mangoes, yes, but just about any other fruit as well–and particularly good over steel-cut oatmeal.

Here is a stripped-down recipe for the cherries based on the more detailed instructions and observations in these entries: Chocolate-Covered Cherries, Part One and Part Two.

A great meringue for frosting and filling cakes and cupcakes, among many other uses.