  We study gravity coupled to scalar and fermion fields in the Einstein-Cartan
framework. We discuss the most general form of the action that contains terms
of mass dimension not bigger than four, leaving out only contributions
quadratic in curvature. By resolving the theory explicitly for torsion, we
arrive at an equivalent metric theory containing additional six-dimensional
operators. This lays the groundwork for cosmological studies of the theory. We
also perform the same analysis for a no-scale scenario in which the Planck mass
is eliminated at the cost of adding an extra scalar degree of freedom. Finally,
we outline phenomenological implications of the resulting theories, in
particular to inflation and dark matter production.
