The Peanut Legume Paradox

Stop everything because your whole life has been a lie. That peanut?

It is not a nut. It hangs out in the nut aisle,

acting all crunchy and salty, but it is an imposter. True nuts like

walnuts grow on trees. But peanuts? They are shy. They grow underground

in pods. Because they grow in pods, botanically speaking, they are legumes.

Yes, just like a common bean. That makes them cousins to lentils,

peas, and chickpeas. They are the social climbers of the bean world.

We only call them nuts because they are oily and crunchy. But science does