Buttermilk

You'll love this riff on classic peaches and cream.

You can replace some of the cilantro or parsley with other tender herbs—basil, dill, chives. Just make sure to include the tarragon; it gives the dip an anise-y, bittersweet punch.

Using bruised berries, that last little bit of buttermilk in the container, and a scoop of tahini will make you feel both resourceful and well fed.

What makes this salad special is the miso ranch dressing and the pulverized nori.

These biscuits are more sturdy than flaky, which means they won’t crumble on the way to your mouth.

This soup is inspired by Ash Reshteh, a thick Iranian soup made with chickpeas, a boatload of herbs, and noodles, with one big exception: We omitted the noodles.

If you don’t have a Belgian waffle iron, use a regular one, but you probably won’t need as much batter.

This will take you back to the flavor of all those canned cream-of-mushroom-soup-based casseroles, but without all the weird ingredients!

These pancakes make an addictive snack: Freeze any extras and toast gently to reheat.

If you want to make this bread the same day, sub old-fashioned oats for the steel-cut.

You can create a variety of shapes and colors with a cookie press. We love OXO’s cookie press for this recipe since it has sturdy metal plates and all the parts unscrew easily for cleaning.

We combined two great Thanksgiving traditions in this recipe—deep-fried whole turkeys (which requires an outdoor cooking vessel and a scary amount of hot oil), and the flavors of stuffing, which are worked into a crunchy coating for these tenders.

That no-name buttermilk in your dairy aisle probably isn't real buttermilk—but this is.

This apple pancakes recipe features a serving of whole grains and produce that you get to pour maple syrup over. Yes please!

A true Southerner wouldn’t dare add sugar to this cornbread recipe, but a Yankee might miss it. Do what you will; we don’t judge.

The pieces of butter in the batter melt as the hushpuppies fry, making them extra moist and luscious. This recipe is from Buxton Hall, one of the Hot 10, America's Best New Restaurants 2016.

Sprouting and frying the sunflower seeds completely transforms their flavor. But just using salted, roasted sunflower seeds would also work fine. This recipe is from Staplehouse, America's Best New Restaurant 2016.

An unexpected side dish that can be made hours ahead of a party; wait until the last minute to toss together.

This irresistible matchup of crispy and creamy releases more dopamine than a bag of Cheetos.

Use this creamy slaw as one of the toppings for the Ranch Dog, or as a condiment or side next to pretty much anything else!

To take this to a traditional wedge salad place, grill some thick-cut bacon and crumble it over the top.

Blueberry pancakes, but make it pie. 

This dressing is great on salads, of course, but also pairs quite nicely with our Creamy Ranch Slaw.

The nostalgic yellow cake flavor in cupcake form. If using a darker muffin tin, keep an eye on the edges—those pans encourage more browning, and you might end up removing these from the oven a few minutes earlier. Get the recipe for vanilla cream cheese frosting here. This is part of BA's Best, a collection of our essential recipes.