Pasta
Jennifer Iserloh
Making healthy tweaks to your fridge and pantry doesn't have to come at the cost of taste. If you're a pasta fiend, try twirling your spaghetti while getting some whole-grain advantages.

Here's a shopping guide for whole-grain pastas, organized by grain, and the classic sauces and toppings that suit them best. So opt for a warm pasta dinner -- an al dente delight that keeps family and friends coming back for more while filling them with healthful benefits.

Whole Wheat
Thicker, whole-wheat pasta shapes can have a "grassy" flavor and a gritty texture. If you want to enjoy 100-percent whole-wheat pasta without overpowering the flavor of the sauce, try angel hair or spaghetti, and sample a few brands to find the one you like best. Overall a thinner, more delicate shape allows more sauce to coat, and the strands of pasta are softer when cooked, without being mushy. Enjoy it with strongly flavored sauces like puttanesca, arrabiata, or caramelized onions and prosciutto.

Brown Rice
Brown-rice pasta has a soft, tender texture -- and most people won't even know that it's not "white" pasta. Safe for people with celiac, it's also a great way to segue kids from the white stuff to something that is whole grain. It works best for mac and cheese, butter and Parmesan, or just a basic tomato-and-basil sauce.

Quinoa Pasta
It may look like white pasta, but it's made from the super-nutritious quinoa grain. Cook 1 minute less than the package indicates since it is a more delicate pasta similar to the soft egg noodles that most people add to their chicken noodle soup. Quinoa pasta, a must for a gluten-free diet, is good for any dish, but it's perfect for Italian wedding soup.

Kamut Buckwheat Mix
Ready for an exotic twist? The darker rigatoni shape is made with kamut, which is a relative of the ancient durum wheat. You might already have tasted ground buckwheat in breakfast pancakes and blini. This pasta looks dark, but has a really surprisingly soft texture that would make an excellent base with chunky sauces like tomato with turkey pepperoni and fresh cubes of mozzarella or sage with sautéed zucchini and walnuts.