Cereals, farina, enriched, cooked with water, with salt

Farina, sold under names like Cream of Wheat, is a finely milled wheat cereal cooked into a smooth, creamy hot porridge. Prepared here simply with water and a pinch of salt, it has a mild, almost neutral flavor that takes well to butter, milk, brown sugar or honey, cinnamon, or chopped fruit stirred in at the table. It is a classic cooked breakfast, usually made on the stovetop by whisking the dry cereal into simmering water and stirring until it thickens, though a microwave works just as well for a single bowl, and the ratio of cereal to water can be adjusted to make it thinner or thicker to taste.

Keep the dry cereal sealed in the pantry, and refrigerate any cooked leftovers in an airtight container, reheating with a splash of water or milk to loosen the texture, since farina firms up considerably once it cools. Cooked this way, farina is only 53 calories per 100 grams, making it a low-calorie base for a warm breakfast that leaves room for toppings. Being enriched, it also provides about 30% of the Daily Value for iron per 100 grams, and with just 0.76 grams of sugar in this unsweetened preparation, it is easy to control sweetness by adding only as much as you like at the table.