Peanut

The shrimp cooks in minutes, so while it’s marinating, set out a platter of lettuce cups, mint sprigs, chopped peanuts, sliced cucumbers, and the reserved sauce.

Remember those sesame noodles I used to order in New York as a cash- strapped actress? Well, I’ve re-created my own recipe here and, in my humble opinion, it’s even better than the original. Best part? This is a cinch to make.

It may seem like blasphemy to toss brisket onto a hot grill; but this method for thinly sliced, marinated meat results in flavorful, juicy steak strips for everyone.

Sauté asparagus hot and fast in a skillet to soften and slightly char, then toss in a soy dressing with crushed peanuts and shredded coconut to add addictive crunch.

This spicy, sour, salty, crunchy mix isn't your typical roasted bar nuts. Fresh lime juice, red onion, chiles, and cilantro give it amazing flavor. It's best served with spoons for scooping into your palm.

Cucumbers are practically all water, so you gotta dress them like you mean it. This hot, sweet, and tart dressing will have them covered.

Larb will not only fill your belly, it will teach you how to balance sweet, sour, salty, spicy, funky, and umami flavors. Larb hails from Laos and gets its addictiveness from the way it stitches together ground meat and crunchy, juicy textures. When you get the balance right, this dish sings, each bite creating a craving for more.

Grilled medium or medium rare, the delicious meat pulls from the built-in skewer (aka the bones), and you salivate even more as you chew.

If you have the homemade red curry paste on hand, this sauce comes together pretty fast and will last five days, sealed tightly and refrigerated.

These easy to make, customizable bars are packed with enough virtuous things that you might almost forget they’re dessert. Pack them in lunches, take them on road trips, or serve them for family movie nights—everyone will be happy.

Roasting the chicken and making the peanut sauce ahead of time gets dinner on the table even faster.

This is my ultimate cheesecake: sweet cream cheese, salty peanut butter and tart sour cherries all mingle together to create one perfectly balanced flavor sensation. It is set with gelatin, which means it takes a little longer to make, but the beautiful smooth texture makes it worth the wait.

This dressing is creamy, savory, and perfectly balanced. Put it on udon noodles—or just drink it.

These easy-to-make peanuts will make you feel like a chocolatier assembling a world-class candy bar. If you're anything like me, you can't keep chocolate bars around the house without breaking off a hunk every time you pass by, so by all means double the recipe if you want, just to make sure there's enough for folding into the ice cream later on.