Monthly Archives: June 2013
Favorite Fruit Salad
Sweet, summery, and based on the bounty of the season. I would eat this fruit salad with every meal if I could, but it pairs especially well with my Better Burger recipe, found here. Favorite Fruit Salad Serves 5-7 Ingredients: 1 pineapple, cut into bite-size pieces 1 pound strawberries, stems removed and cut in half […]
A Better Burger
Most of my lessons about cooking, I learned from my dad. Some of my earliest memories involve working with my dad in the kitchen, keeping watch over a pan of onions caramelizing on the stove while he finished seasoning a pork tenderloin, or peeling the blackened skin off a tray of roasted red peppers he […]
Zucchini “Pasta” with Shrimp and Creamy Avocado Basil Sauce
Similar to recipes made using spaghetti squash, a vegetable takes the place of pasta in this dish for a fresh, healthy, and flavorful meal. Zucchini, a summer staple currently at the peak of its season, holds up just like noodles when blanched, and serves as an excellent base for prawns and a smooth, creamy avocado […]
Creamy Dreamy Green Smoothie
Ever since I won a Magic Bullet at the senior all-night party following my high school graduation, my family has become quite the smoothie specialists. Bananas, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, mangoes, peaches, pineapples, nectarines, chia seeds, flax seeds, honey, Greek yogurt–you name it, we’ve put it in a blender. We have our favorite recipes, but are […]
Nutella-Stuffed Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt
I present to you perfection, in the form of a cookie. (As if you couldn’t already tell from the title) Soft, chewy, melt-in-your mouth chocolate chip cookies, nuanced with the warm flavor of browned butter and a swirl of soft Nutella in the middle, their sweetness balanced by a sprinkling of sea salt on top. […]
Peanut Noodles with Bok Choy and Edamame
My family rarely orders take-out, but when we do, it’s usually Thai. It’s just hard to argue with a good peanut sauce. I made these noodles the other night, though, and found them to be just as good, if not better than, any peanut noodle dish I have ever ordered from a restaurant. The dish […]
Sweet and Spicy Salmon Kebabs
Being from the Pacific Northwest, I love salmon. While on a camping trip with my second-grade Girl Scout troop, my fellow scouts and I encountered a group of salmon swimming upstream to spawn. We stood on a bridge over the river, cheering the salmon on to victory, “Go salmon! You can do it!” I would […]
Banana Breakfast Sandwiches
On a recent visit to my hometown of Chicago, Illinois, I spent a night at my grandparents’ house in the suburbs. My grandfather is usually the master of all breakfast-related items (his scrambled eggs are impossibly light and fluffy), but I surprised them by taking over the kitchen one morning. An adaptation of French Toast, […]
Baked Bruschetta Bread
What better way to begin my blog than with an actual starter? Despite every new innovation from Apple, my favorite apps are still the ones that come before my entree. I first tried this Baked Bruschetta Bread appetizer at a friend’s home in Park City, Utah, where I have spent the past two summers teaching […]
Welcome!
They say when life hands you lemons, make lemonade. But why stop at lemonade? Welcome to Zest, a collection of happy, healthy recipes that are fun to make and even better to eat. Be inspired, try something new, and most importantly, enjoy. About the author: Carolyn Green believes in secret ingredients, striped aprons, and serving breakfast […]