Peanut

For centuries, southerners have enjoyed peanuts raw, baked, roasted and boiled, and in peanut butter, peanut brittle and even peanut soup. These roasted peanuts have a rich, smoky flavor that makes them good accompaniment to cocktails.

For a picnic, transport this colorful side dish next to a cold pack in an airtight container.

A Vietnamese-style salad that makes a refreshing accompaniment to any kind of barbecued meat.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Executive chef Bridget Batson of Hawthorne Lane serves this dessert with homemade caramel sauce (you can use purchased if you like). If you're running short of time, omit the homemade ice cream and mix chopped peanut brittle into your favorite vanilla ice cream.

Peanuts are a huge crop in the South, especially in Georgia, and peanut-molasses brittle is a favorite treat. Sesame seeds-called benne seeds by southerners-are popular in Charleston. Brought to this country in the late 1600s by slaves, today the seeds are used in many specialties, including the famous benne seed cocktail wafers and a luscious brittle. We make our brittle out of both peanuts and benne, then crush it and sprinkle it over ice cream or frozen yogurt.

This recipe was developed by Houston pastry chef Carrie Hart with the assistance of Girl Scout Amanda Marlow.

Arrange in boxes lined with waxed paper. Try simple take-out cartons tied up with raffia and decorated with small pinecones.

Use leftover chicken if you have any on hand, or start with a rotisserie chicken. Be sure to pick up the sliced peppers from the salad bar while you're at the market. Crunchy sesame breadsticks are all you need to complete the meal — except, of course, dessert, which could be pineapple slices sprinkled with coconut and broiled.

Gin Thoke This salad is pungent, crunchy, intriguing, and addictive. Although served as a dessert in Myanmar, it is also a great accompaniment to grilled fish, chicken, or steak.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. "Goober"is a southern colloquialism for the peanut — and a great name for our ice cream sandwiches. Be sure to put these together before dinner so that they'll be frozen and ready to enjoy.

This speedy dinner features a verdant take on chili crisp, with scallions, jalapeños, and roasted peanuts for crunch.

A simple stovetop method brings out the best in this earthy root veg.

Nutty bites for an afternoon boost or postpartum nourishment.

Spicy, slurpy noodles meet summer’s sweet tomatoes.