Peanut butter - spread it beyond PB&J

Family legend has it that my brother-in-law lived and grew strong on peanut butter sandwiches - only - for the first four years of elementary school.

Many modern mothers can relate.

Peanut butter is an iconic American product and, in many ways, a superhero.

Granted, those who are intensely allergic to the legume and products made with it regard them as villains.

But for the rest of the populace, peanut butter sandwiched with jelly between sliced bread has been the staff of life for decades of children.

It's parent-friendly because it is loaded with protein and other nutrients, supremely convenient, relatively inexpensive, and versatile in recipes for both savory and sweet creations.

In other words, it has come a long way from its promotion in the early 1900s as a health food for the toothless.

Peanut butter went on from there to be an upscale product after it was introduced at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904. It was sometimes mixed with ketchup and sweet relish and served between slices of buttered bread, then cut into dainty tea sandwiches.

As its price declined, it was sent overseas - with packages of jelly - to feed soldiers fighting in World War I. Later, it was embraced as a main source of nutrition by poorer families with children during the Great Depression.

So widespread is its use in North America now that a recall of peanut products in 2009 was among the largest ever by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Peanut-butter sales plunged - but have recovered - since the recall, which followed the deaths of nine people and the sickening of hundreds by salmonella traced to a Georgia processing plant.

Americans eat about $880 million worth of peanut butter a year. It's in 75 percent of households, and it is used mostly on the kid-friendly, inexpensive, and comforting PB&J sandwich.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, a peanut-butter product called Plumpy'nut has been revolutionizing the way malnutrition is treated in Africa.

Plumpy'nut, invented in France, is made of peanut butter fortified with powdered milk, sugar, and vitamin-enriched vegetable oil. It does not need refrigeration, and has a two-year shelf life in its foil pouch. Eaten twice daily, its total of 1,000 calories produce weight gain and reverse malnutrition in starving children.

When Plumpy'nut was first used during a 2005 food crisis in Niger, it cut malnutrition rates in half.

(Nutriset, the company that owns a patent on the product, is now engaged in a legal battle with some not-for-profit organizations that have produced and distributed a similar and cheaper version. The nonprofits argue in part that it is immoral for the distribution of such a wonder product to be controlled by a patent.)

For those of us who are not malnourished, frequent peanut butter and jelly sandwiches may be out of the question. Even though the fat in many brands is monounsaturated - which is thought to battle "bad cholesterol"- in general, a tablespoon of peanut butter contains about 94 calories, of which 72 percent come from fat.

On the bright side, peanut butter contains protein, niacin, Vitamin E, calcium, copper, potassium, iron and magnesium. It also contains resveratrol, which helps the body deal with bacteria.

The ramifications of all this to a home cook are obvious: Use peanut butter in moderation or in combination with other ingredients to produce dishes that appeal to diners young and old.

Peanut Butter Crispy Bars, for example, take advantage of the spread's affinity for chocolate to produce a bar cookie reminiscent of candy bars. For canapés, pair peanut butter with another old and best friend, bacon.

Finally, to create a dish that even my brother-in-law might have eaten as a child, incorporate peanut butter into hummus or a sauce for pasta.

Peanut Butter Crispy Bars

Makes 9 servings

For the crispy crust: