This roasted butternut squash and barley risotto gives you all the comfort of the classic with the chew of pearl barley, and the squash roasts while you stir. A splash of white wine and a shower of Parmesan at the end pull it together. It's a weekend-feeling dish...

These vibrant barley-stuffed bell peppers are a complete dinner in an edible package: mushrooms and quick-cooking barley bound with egg and mozzarella, piled into sweet peppers. They bake up golden on top while the pepper walls turn tender enough to cut with a fork....

These savory couscous cakes with black bean salsa turn pantry couscous into crisp-edged little griddle cakes, topped with a fresh corn-and-bean salsa. The batter comes together in minutes and the cakes cook fast, so most of your time goes into letting them set up...

This spiced chickpea and couscous bowl is a 30-minute dinner built on a warm trio of ginger, cumin, and turmeric. The spices bloom in olive oil with garlic and green onions before the chickpeas join, which is what makes such a simple bowl taste slow-cooked. Serve it...

This hearty vegetarian chili with cornmeal dumplings cooks in one pot in about 35 minutes, thanks to canned chickpeas and kidney beans that need nothing more than a rinse. The dumplings steam right on top of the thickened chili, so you get stew and bread in a single...

These 25-minute falafel pitas with spicy aioli come together from one can of chickpeas and a handful of pantry spices, which makes them my favorite busy-night dinner. The patties pan-fry in olive oil until the edges turn deep golden, and shredded carrot keeps the...

Creamy Vegetable and Cannellini Bean Risotto is real risotto on a weeknight timeline — Arborio rice stirred to a creamy finish with mushrooms, zucchini, carrots, and white beans. The beans turn a side dish into a meal. Thirty-five minutes of stirring goes a long way....

Lemony Barley and Green Bean Couscous is the side dish I make all spring — chewy barley and fluffy couscous tossed with green beans, spinach, and enough fresh lemon to make it sing. One pot of broth does double duty. Twenty-seven minutes, start to finish. Looking for...

20-Minute Vegan Black Bean Tostadas are the emergency dinner I actually look forward to — whole black beans mashed with vegan refried beans and cumin on crisp shells, piled with lettuce, tomato, and vegan sour cream. Twenty minutes, pantry to table. Done and done....

Spicy Sweet Potato and Black Bean Cabbage Wraps are thirty minutes to a dinner that looks like it took longer — roasted sweet potato cubes and seasoned black beans spooned into cool cabbage leaves with a spiced yogurt-lime drizzle. Fresh, fast, and happy on a hot day....

The Last Veggie Burger You'll Ever Need: Smoky Chipotle Black Bean & Wild Rice Burgers — I stand by the name. Wild rice gives them real bite, oats hold them together, and the smoky spice blend makes them taste intentional. They crisp at the edges and flip in...