Any parent whose child has had a "white food" phase understands the suspicion—or downright contempt—that can greet foods with visible fiber, unbleached flour, or thick crusts. But among the good-for-you grains, whole wheat may be the easiest and most rewarding to sneak into a kid's meal. Milled with the entire wheat grain (bran, germ, and endosperm) intact, it retains far more vitamins and minerals than white flour, which contains only the starchy (i.e., nutritionally vapid) endosperm. And because whole grains are digested more evenly than refined ones, whole wheat may help kids maintain a stable energy and hunger level.

Here, three parents who are professional chefs offer up whole-wheat recipes for breakfast, lunch, and even dessert that are hits in their homes. Michael White of New York City's Fiamma whisks whole-wheat flour into crunchy peanut-butter waffles; Michael Otsuka of the Lark Creek Inn, near San Francisco, coats chicken cutlets in crunchy whole-wheat crumbs; and Aaron Lindgren of Parkway Grill and Arroyo Chop House in Pasadena, California, fortifies apple-walnut bread pudding with a rich whole-wheat-and-honey loaf. Each dish supplies a heftier dose of protein, antioxidants, folic acid, and zinc than its white-flour counterpart would—great reasons to stop going against the grain.

Next Page: Michael Otsuka's Whole Wheat–Crusted Chicken Breast Cutlets