This smooth peanut sauce is versatile, easy to make, and keeps for five days in the fridge.

A piece of toast loaded with grape jam in the dead of winter is a really special treat.

Get creative when cooking with it. Swirl it into a broth for fish soup; toss it with roasted vegetables, penne, and mozzarella for a baked pasta; spoon it on crusty ciabatta.

Serve this savory spoon bread and beach plum sauce with roast chicken.

A few minutes and three ingredients – lemon (or lime) juice, sugar, and salt – are all you need to tame and tenderize piquant veggies.

Quick-pickling couldn't be easier.

Preserved lemons are a key element in Moroccan cooking, used in lamb and vegetable tagines and in salads.

With hints of spice, a zesty orange tang, and a pronounced shallot flavor to compliment the subtle sweetness, it skews toward the savory side of things, making it a terrific accompaniment to any robust meat dish, such as venison or duck.

Blending cilantro with honey to make a dessert sauce sounds a bit strange, but Chris’s combination is wonderfully refreshing served over chilled yogurt from Mermaid Farm, located on Middle Road in Chilmark.

Serves 10

Native Islander Polly Bassett, who lives in West Tisbury, shares this recipe for a mild but flavorful salsa that you can use as a taco sauce, chip dip, or seasoning sauce.