All Ingredients

These soft and semi-soft cheeses contain 60-74% butterfat, making them rich and creamy. They're not quite as decadent as tripe-crème cheeses, which have at least 75% butterfat.

This is similar to powdered sugar, only it doesn't melt as easily. Commercial bakers use this on doughnuts and other pastries.

This refers either to beer that's stored in a keg or to unpasteurized beer in bottles or cans

These comes in gold or silver.

This comes from a cactus native to Central and South America, and has a mild flavor. To eat it, either peel it or cut it in half and scoop out the white, polka-dotted pulp with a spoon. Select dragon fruit by pressing it gently. It should give just a little.

You can eat these, pods and all, just like green beans.

This is a Scottish liqueur made with Scotch, honey, and various herbs.

This German bread is made with rye flour.

These are popular additions to trail mixes. They're often treated with sulfur to improve their color and shelf life.

Turkish dried apricots are lighter in color and milder in flavor than other varieties. They're often treated with sulfur to improve their color and shelf life.

People in the Middle East usually make a drink out of this fruit leather by putting it into boiling water. During Ramadan, it's often served before and after the day-long fast. Look for it in Middle Eastern markets.

These usually come in two forms: long spears, which are very sweet and best for cooking, and chips, which are fried in oil, crunchy, and best suited for trail mixes.

Beans are low in fat and loaded with nutrients, and we'd probably eat more of them if they weren't also loaded with flatulence-producing enzymes. There are ways to enjoy beans without having to forego social appointments, however. One is to change the water from time to time while you're soaking or cooking the beans. Pouring off the water helps gets rid of the indigestible complex sugars that create gas in your intestine. It also helps to cook the beans thoroughly, until they can be easily mashed with a fork. Most bean aficionados prefer dried beans, but canned beans are also available. These don't need to be cooked, but they tend to be saltier and less flavorful than reconstituted dried beans.

These are very sweet and have an intense cantaloupe flavor.

These are used to make muffins and cakes.

These are large and sweet, and they can serve as a refreshing alternative to raisins in many recipes.

You reconstitute these by boiling them for about an hour. They're available in Italian markets, but you'll usually pay less if you get them in an Asian market.

Begin with orange, lemon, tangerine, or grapefruit peels, scrape off and discard as much of the bitter white pith as possible, and dry what's left in the sun until hard

With their flashy color and tangy flavor, dried cranberries are a good alternative to raisins in many recipes. Craisins is a well-known brand.

Look for these in Middle Eastern markets.

These meaty, strongly flavored beans have been around for ages, and they work well in sides dishes, soups, or salads. Tender fresh fava beans are available in the fall and are much better tasting than canned, dried, or frozen ones. Cook them before eating. About 400 million people worldwide have favism, an enzyme deficiency. Eating fava beans can cause adverse symptoms in some of them.

These are a great source of fiber and calcium. Varieties include the Black Mission fig, which is a good choice for eating out of hand, and the Calimyrna = Turkish = Smyrna fig, which is best for cooking. If your figs become too dry, you can rehydrate them with water. Don't eat the stems.

Dried fruit is a terrific snack, but cooks also use it in everything from muffins to stews. Drying has the obvious advantage of letting us enjoy our favorite fruit when it's out of season, but it also serves to concentrate the fruit's flavor and sugar. Since high concentrations of sugar ward off bacteria, dried fruit can last up to a year without refrigeration. If you live in a hot, dry climate, you can dry fruit just by leaving it out in the sun for a few days. If not, you can use an oven or dehydrator. Sulfur dioxide is sometimes added to the fruit to improve its shelf life and color. If you're allergic to it, you can usually find unsulfured dried fruit at health food stores. In a pinch, you can remove some of the sulfur by boiling treated dried fruit for a minute or so, then draining off the liquid.

These are sometimes coated with sugar.

Many dried meats don't need refrigeration, so they're great for backpackers and travelers. They're a good source of protein, but they tend to be high in sodium.

These are the size of large raisins, and they taste like very dry figs. Look for them in Middle Eastern markets.

These are similar to dried peaches, but often a bit more expensive. They're often treated with sulfur.

These are sometimes coated with sugar.

These are similar to dried apricots, only larger and milder. They're often treated with sulfur.

These don't have the cloying sweetness of some dried fruits. They're often gassed with sulfur dioxide in the drying process in order to improve their color and shelf life.

Like beans, shelled peas are packed with both healthful nutrients and flatulence-producing enzymes. Since the water that you soak and cook the peas in absorbs some of the indigestible sugars that make you gassy, it helps to rinse the peas after soaking, and then use fresh water when you cook them. Split peas don't need to be soaked and cook quickly.

These often have a white, sugary residue, which is edible.

These are sometimes coated with sugar.

These are sweet and chewy, and they're great in trail mixes or granola.

This category includes yellowfish = yellow croaker (pictured), corvina = spotfin croaker, drum, redfish = red drum, white sea bass, kingfish, weakfish, and spot. Substitutes: hake (tastier) OR mullet OR tuna OR red snapper OR pompano.

This is aged cow's milk jack cheese.