Kwanzaa is often marked by a vibrant spread of dishes that can have significant meaning to family celebrating and their history. If you're looking for some extra inspiration this year, start here. The first few recipes in this collection are from Food Network's digital series, The Kwanzaa Menu, hosted by Tonya Hopkins. She invited a line-up of guests to cook a recipe for each day of Kwanzaa and explore the stories and history behind the dishes.

For instance, take akara (a Yoruba and Igbo word referring to a bean cake or fritter), which has long been a popular street snack throughout West Africa and shows up prominently in Atlantic Creole cookery all over the New World, including the American South. The fritters are made with black-eyed peas, which are an ancient indigenous staple of the Senegambian diet and popularized by Black American cooks (many descendants of that region) after the Civil War. Representing resilience and blessings, black-eyed peas are a long-standing symbol of good luck.

This recipe's medley aspect highlights collective work and responsibility come to life via all the extra hands needed to clean and dice up the greens! It’s also great to use three different types of greens for taste and texture diversity. And the integral layering of leaves, alliums and seasonings throughout the pot is another example of the collective work it takes to get to the top. For a festive flare, the recipe factors in more colors — red, yellow and orange bell peppers, as well as some green ones too, cut into circles and added towards the end of cooking — to be displayed on the uppermost layer of the greens in the serving dish on the table.

This mulled wine mocktail is a deliciously spiced blended beverage of African teas (red rooibos and bissap — or hibiscus) and ripe red fruit (tart cherry) yielding a seasonally appropriate (and culturally significant!) deep red color with aromatics of Ancient Africa (clove, pepper, ashanti pepper). Tonya Hopkins and Kenya Parham created this flavor-filled potion for Kwanzaa’s many planned (and improvised!) multigenerational gatherings of family and friends over the course of the holiday’s seven days and six nights. A reclamation of colonized, classic holiday season spices with both warming and healing properties, it’s a lovely ancestrally inspired aftercomer to the Christmas Eve and Day tradition of their Dad’s signature spiced hot cider. It looks and smells so amazing while being made that they love ladling steamy servings straight from the pot it just simmered up in. But because the flavors only get better each day, they suggest you also make a big enough batch for reheating in the days ahead — AND so it can morph from hot mocktail to a chilled cocktail (a Kwanzaa mimosa!) — complete with a zawadi (gift) cube! You’ll also be ready with two options for the kikombe cha umoja (unity cup) when it’s time for the holiday’s libations ceremonies.

Calas are semisweet fried rice cakes (an evolution of the beignet) seasoned with warming spices (e.g., ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg) and so appropriate for this Yuletide season. They are akin to rice pudding fritters, with a smooth and creamy yet textured interior and a satisfyingly crispy exterior. The word "cala" comes from one or more African languages. Calas were one of many foods made and sold by both enslaved and free women of color in New Orleans. They are a symbol of the frugality, inventiveness, self-reliance and entrepreneurial spirit of Black women food vendors throughout the Thirteen Colonies and entire Eastern Seaboard for centuries, not unlike several entrepreneurial ancestors in our family whose stories we remember during Kwanzaa and always.  Sprinkled lightly with coconut crystal sugar while warm, or for an even sweeter treat, drizzled with a (preferably all-natural) syrup of your choice, they’re great accompaniments to a freshly brewed pot of Kenyan (or other African/Diasporic) coffee.

Cassava, aka manioc or yuca, is a New World crop that was introduced and readily adopted in West Africa centuries ago, where it became a primary starch in the diet. It’s used in myriad ways in culinary cultures throughout the African Diaspora (e.g., pounded to make fufu, dried and powdered and used as flour or a starch thickener, sliced or cubed, roasted, baked or fried; additionally, its liquid or juice can be fermented). It’s the perfect base and medium in this dish for the spicy, gingery sauce and is a culturally relevant addition to any Kwanzaa celebration.

Fried catfish is a Soul Food staple found not just across the South, but across America. This favorite is flaky and tender on the inside, crunchy and slightly spicy on the outside. Soaking the catfish in buttermilk for a short time adds a tangy flavor, and if you whisk in a little hot sauce you get an extra layer of heat that can’t be beat!

This recipe from Tonya Hopkins and Michael Twitty is a "plethora of proteins" kind of approach to grilling both poultry (chicken) and seafood (snapper and spiny lobsters). It also dials up both the feast aspect of the 6th day’s karamu feast, as well as the notion of a "creative synthesis" (of spicing, marinating and technique — arriving at an African food fusion of sorts) that aligns with the kuumba principle of the day (creativity).

The first fruits harvest smoothie is a great way to start any sequence of holiday days to feel good and energized! This fab festive green refresher has two non-dairy base options: pear nectar or coconut milk blended with fresh and frozen fruits along with high-water-ratio green veg from both land and lake. Cucumber (genetically related to watermelons, which are originally from Africa) and the Central African algae superfood, spirulina, are two of the green stars of this satisfying smoothie. Banana and pineapple add plenty of sweetness. This shake-like refresher appeals to vegan sensibilities and historically informed ingredients that originate from and/or are relevant to the African continent and the big, beautiful Black Diaspora that Kwanzaa was created to celebrate.  The first fruits harvest smoothie can also be served as a reinterpretation/reclamation of the acai bowls popular today — complete with a red/'black'/green topper of red berries/the darkest chocolate/kiwi and granola of your choice —or one made from African super grains like millet, fonio or sorghum.

Meiko Temple writes, "Living with a New Orleanian like my husband Kenneth makes tackling the iconic red beans and rice a high-stakes game. Kenneth's got red beans and rice down to an art form — each ingredient perfectly curated, each stir and simmer meticulously planned. Then here I come, with my 60-minute whirlwind of a recipe, armed with crispy beef bacon, smoked beef sausage and canned kidney beans. But don't let the can fool you; these beans pack a flavor punch that'll make you question everything you thought you knew about 'quick' dishes. My version might raise an eyebrow or two from the purists — especially my man Kenneth — but don't sleep on it. It's got the same creamy, spicy gravy that you'd expect from hours on the stove, but with far less time chained to the kitchen. So, while Kenneth may hold the crown for traditional red beans and rice, consider this recipe your go-to for when life's too chaotic for anything but delicious efficiency."