Eat breakfast the way a Moroccan grandmother might make it with this milky, slow-cooked wheat soup.

Vegewarian (vegetarian- aware recipes like these) offer you an alternative to meat-based food. Here’s one for this week which brings Morocco into the kitchen. Home cooks in Morocco make a variety of  cereal-based soups and porridge from millet, barley and wheat (see our post about how important wild cereals are to our grain supply). Cracked-wheat soups are most often savory with spices, herbs, and sometimes meat, but this sweet soup, called Herbel, is an exception.

Like the rice pudding that Westerners are familiar with, this sturdy cereal dish requires two cooking times: once in water to tenderize the grains, and again in milk to make a sweet porridge. But wheat kernels, being a whole grain, are infinitely more nutritious and than white rice, giving you steady energy to last through the whole morning. And Herbel, made luxurious with orange-flower water and a touch of honey, is a delicious way to start the day – or wind up the evening with a comforting dinner.