Peanuts
Synonymous with baseball games, circus elephants, cocktail snacks
and, of course, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, peanuts are ever
popular in the American culture. Raw, roasted, shelled or unshelled in
all forms are available throughout the year.
Contrary to what their name implies, peanuts are not true nuts but a
member of a family of legumes related to peas, lentils, chickpeas and
other beans. Peanuts start growing as a ground flower that due to its
heavy weight bends towards the ground and eventually burrows underground
where the peanut actually matures. The veined brown shell or pod of the
peanut contains two or three peanut kernels. Each oval-shaped kernel or
seed is comprised of two off-white lobes that are covered by a
brownish-red skin.