Comforting grain bowl relies on surprising technique

This dish is grounding for me in multiple ways, offering an antidote to the frenetic world outside, if just for awhile. It transports me to the warm comfort of my Eastern European grandmother's kitchen, where she would regularly toss kasha and browned onions with bow-tie pasta to make kasha varnishkes. The earthy essence of this meal-in-abowl is grounding in itself, with the deep nuttiness of the grain, peaty aroma of sauteed mushrooms, base note of onion and whisper of grassy herbs. Topped with a runny-yolk egg, it's a meal confidently centered on my path celebrating food that is both supremely nourishing and delicious.

Although you could use any number of different grains here (nutty-tasting bulgur, steel-cut oats or barley would work nicely, cooked as per their package directions,) it's well worth picking up some kasha if you don't have some in your pantry already. Kasha is roasted buckwheat which, despite its name, is not a type of wheat, but a gluten-free seed that cooks like a grain and is traditionally used like one. Kasha's toasty flavor and aroma are intense in the most enticing, memorable way. It's a nutritional powerhouse, too - rich in protein, fiber, minerals and health-protective phytonutrients.

The instructions on the package of kasha I bought say to boil it, which is what my grandmother did, but after comparing that to the oven method suggested in Darra Goldstein's wonderful book “Beyond the North Wind,” I was completely won over.

Toasting the kasha in a skillet and then baking it in a casserole dish yields a much more flavorful and fluffy grain. For this recipe, I employed the same skillet used to toast the kasha to then brown the onions and mushrooms and, finally, to cook the egg.

All piled in a bowl with the egg on top, showered with dill and parsley, it's a satisfying, modern meal with a firm tether to tradition.