538 cheery recipes

Black Forest oatmeal cookies with white and semi-sweet chocolate chunks, maraschino cherries, toasted almonds, and almond extract. A bakery-style drop cookie.

Cumin-crusted chicken breasts seared in cast iron, sliced over a fresh tomato, cucumber, and jalapeno salad with a warm red wine vinegar dressing. A high-protein, low-fat dinner in 40 minutes.

Pickled pineapple meringue freezes a meringue with pink-peppercorn-pickled pineapple, almonds, and cream, then plates with raspberry sauce and dramatic chocolate spires. Restaurant-style frozen dessert.

Twice-baked stuffed potato loaded with cottage cheese, cheddar, sunflower seeds, green pepper, carrots, and scallions. A lean, vegetable-packed baked potato made in the microwave.

Cajun remoulade sauce with brown mustard, ketchup, apple cider vinegar, and Tabasco, served with fresh vegetable crudites. A tangy, spicy no-cook dip for raw veggies.

Microwave taco salad with hot Italian sausage, green chilies, and Monterey Jack over crisp lettuce and tomatoes. Single-person dinner ready in 20 minutes start to finish.

This is a very simple one-bowl meal, perfect for when you don’t have the time to spend cooking after work. You can easily double or triple the recipe and use the leftovers for lunch the next day.

Jumbo pasta shells stuffed with ricotta, lemon zest, chives, and chopped almonds, then drizzled with a bright lemon-Dijon vinaigrette. Served cold or at room temperature.

A Swiss showstopper: fresh plums caramelized in red wine, kirsch, and honey with pine nuts and pistachios, topped with homemade cinnamon ice cream. Serve warm or cold.

This is a very delicious chocolate fudge pie. Everyone likes it.

This is an very excellent cheesecake, very yuuuuuy.

Beat the summer heat with this delicious fruit dish that is bound to cool you off.

Strawberry lemon trifle with homemade genoise cake, lemon curd cream filling, kirsch-strawberry syrup, toasted almonds, and piped whipped cream. A showpiece French-style layered dessert.

Strawberry lemon trifle layered with homemade genoise cake, lemon curd filling, kirsch-soaked strawberries, toasted almonds, and whipped cream.

Mother's fruit cake is a brandy-soaked holiday classic with cherries, apricots, pineapple, peel, raisins, and currants bound in a spiced chocolate-scented batter. Baked slow and aged for two months.

Grilled shrimp skewered on fresh rosemary branches, marinated in lemon, garlic, and chili, then served over a bright cherry tomato and black olive salsa. A showstopping Mediterranean appetizer or light main.