Grain bowls can be tricky; if you don’t put together the right mix of ingredients, it’ll taste less like a grain bowl and more like… just a bowl of grains. To avoid that, build it with these layers.
THE BASE
It’s a grain bowl, so of course farro, bulgur, cracked wheat, quinoa, or any kind of rice will be perfect here. Porridge-y grains like polenta and oats are also nice (you definitely need the crunch layer with these), and so are noodles of any kind—rice noodles, soba noodles, ramen. Cook your grains in salted water to season them right from the beginning, and toss them with a little dressing (see The Sauce, below) before you add everything else on top.
THE RAW AND THE CRUNCH
Arugula is probably the easiest way to add a fresh, raw element to your grain bowl, but you can also throw in some thinly sliced fennel, kale, celery, radish, carrot, cucumber, apple, or pear (toss the apple or pear with a little lemon juice before adding them to the bowl). For extra crunch, add any toasted, salted nut; any seed; and almost any snack from Trader Joe’s (wasabi peas and potato chips, yes; chocolate-covered graham crackers, no).
THE CREAMY LAYER
You need something rich to play off the raw and crunchy layers. Cubes of roasted winter squash and sliced avocado are my usual go-tos, but if you don’t have either of those, try a spoonful of plain Greek yogurt, a little puddle of tahini, a soft cheese like feta or ricotta, or dollops of baba ghanoush or hummus.
THE PROTEIN CORNER
You don’t need a lot—just a little corner of the bowl where you can fit in some shredded chicken (here), a Perfect 7-Minute Egg (here), some cubed tofu, some oil-packed tuna, or some flaked salmon (here).
THE BRIGHT SPOT
Pickled Red Onions (here) were made for grain bowls, but so was every other pickle: cornichons, pepperoncini, pickled daikon, and so on. You can also get a hit of acid from halved cherry or grape tomatoes, a spoonful of kimchee, or just a generous squeeze of lime.
THE SAUCE
Any sauce from the Sauce Pantry (here to here) will work. The Basic Vinaigrette (maybe with a little harissa or honey—or both!—shaken in) is classic; the Simple Yogurt Sauce is a little richer. And you don’t have to choose just one sauce; Crunchy Garlic–Chile Oil is a good second sauce for almost any bowl.