Raisin

Fennel and raisins are a classic combination, and they come together here with rice to make a gratifying side dish. Dried fennel seeds help boost the fresh vegetable's delicate anise flavor, while plump golden raisins thread the rice with sweetness.

This recipe was a winner in the 2001 Plains Peanut Festival Recipe Contest in Plains, Georgia and appears here courtesy of the The Peanut Institute. It was also reprinted in Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook. Clark writes: This prizewinning recipe offers a yummy alternative to commercial energy bars. These homemade bars are perfect for when you are hiking or biking, as well as for a satisfying afternoon snack. They are relatively high in fat, but it's healthful fat from peanuts and sunflower seeds. For variety, make this recipe with cashews and cashew butter and add a variety of dried fruits (cranberries, cherries, and dates).

These cakey, low-fat cookies digest easily and are good for a preexercise snack or recovery food. The recipe makes about 5 dozen cookies—enough to feed the whole team. If you are cooking for yourself, you might want to cut the recipe in half.

Soundtrack: "Sankofa" by Hypnotic Brass Ensemble and Tony Allen from Allen Chop Up and "Sankofa" by Cassandra Wilson from Blue Light 'Til Dawn This recipe was the seed of Vegan Soul Kitchen... a brand new classic, if you will, dedicated to my home city in the mid-South—Memphis, Tennessee.

This rich Belizean pudding, or pone, is delicious warm or chilled.

Your subconscious will register "early spring" with this combination of double-thick lamb chops and earthy, grassy Swiss chard. Perfect for Easter dinner, the dish is heightened by the tang of Dijon mustard and the subtle sweetness of plump golden raisins.

B'stilla, a traditional Moroccan recipe, was the inspiration for this savory pie. The dish consists of a spiced chicken filling sandwiched between layers of crisp phyllo pastry.

Gajar halva is a luxurious Indian dessert made from carrots slowly cooked down with sweetened milk and spices. This version is fast enough for weeknights and brings the warmth of the Indian sun to mind.

Store-bought panettone is the foundation of this raisin and bread pudding. Because the bread is so eggy, it bakes into an extra-silky custard that contrasts with a generous expanse of buttery golden brown crispness on top. (Using a shallow pan is key.)

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from Jamie Oliver's book Jamie's Italy. Pasta con acchiughe e pomodoro This is a poor people's pasta from Palermo in Sicily. You could use tagliatelle or spaghetti, but if you can find margherita pasta it's great — it looks thicker than spaghetti, and it's frilly down one edge. This sauce has great flavor and is very Sicilian with the raisins and pine nuts. P.S., I'd like to thank my mate John Hamilton, the incredible art director on this book, who made this dish with me in Sicily. He made it with such care and concentrated so hard staring at it that I thought it might turn to stone! As you can see from the picture, it goes to show that even a Glaswegian geezer can produce a pretty and delicate dish.

Steamed raisin pudding, or spotted dick, as it's also called, is a traditional English dessert cake that is steamed instead of baked. It can be portioned into 8 ramekins or steamed in a large bowl and turned out as a whole cake. If you're using the ramekins, rather than spooning in the batter, you may want to transfer it to a large pastry bag and pipe it in—this will keep things neat and produce evenly proportioned cakes.

Applesauce goes global in a chutney spiced with ginger and red-pepper flakes. Tart Granny Smiths and sweet Galas are cut into chunks, giving this topping a firm bite. Fabulous over potato latkes, it’s also delicious with zucchini latkes .

Every year, I make homemade fruitcakes for friends and family. I bake the dense pound cakes studded with dried fruits months in advance, then wrap them in muslin. These cookies are similar to my fruitcakes—only they’ll take you a lot less time. For a fun presentation, the cookies are baked in bonbon-size baking cups.

Carena brings an almost Moroccan sensibility to this delicious play of sweet and savory, from the crisp-tender fennel to the orange essences and underlying traces of saffron and raisins.

A globe's worth of influences go into this tender quail, but the result is a very subtle dish with a classic French balance.

Using a fresh bay leaf brings the perfume of the herb garden to agrodolce onions that beg to be popped in the mouth whole.

Merguez, the spicy lamb sausages of North Africa, are popular throughout France. These nearly labor-free patties are a quick way to re-create them in your kitchen. The sweetness of the raisin couscous contrasts nicely with the meat's deep spice.