3,013 zest recipes

Festive holiday fruitcake loaded with pecans, candied pineapple, dates, golden raisins, and candied citrus peel. Laced with orange liqueur and aged up to three weeks.

Southern Japanese fruitcake: a 4-layer cake alternating plain butter cake with spiced pecan-and-raisin layers, bound by a thick lemon-coconut filling. A vintage Christmas dessert from the American South with a name that has nothing to do with Japan.

Pasta with artichoke sauce tosses fettuccine in a quick sauté of artichoke hearts, garlic, oil-cured olives, white wine, and lemon zest topped with Parmesan. Light and Mediterranean.

Authentic Sichuan beef stew with star anise, dried orange peel, ginger, and Sichuan peppercorns. Slow-simmered for three hours with hot bean paste and soy. Serve over rice.

Spicy crab pasta in a quick tomato sauce with red pepper flakes, garlic, fish stock, and lemon zest. Low-fat, ready in 25 minutes, and full of heat.

Glazed apple gem cookies: small drop cookies with chopped apple, raisins, and nuts, dipped in apple juice glaze while warm. Soft, spiced, and packed with fall flavor.

Sweet and sour chicken saute with orange juice, white wine, raspberry vinegar, and rosemary, finished with fresh orange segments and avocado. Bistro-style chicken with bright pan sauce.

Pumpkin orange cake: moist sheet cake with canned pumpkin, orange juice concentrate, and zest, finished with a citrus glaze. Fall flavors with a bright twist on standard pumpkin spice.

Orange beef stir-fry with crispy battered round steak tossed in a glossy sauce of beef stock, soy sauce, dried red chiles, and caramelized orange zest. Better than takeout in 30 minutes.

Prawns and spinach salad tosses grilled butterflied shrimp with fresh spinach, orange slices, and red pepper in a sherry-sesame-ginger dressing. A bright, Asian-inflected main-course salad.

Hungarian Christmas bread (makos beigli-inspired loaf): a buttery, lemon-scented yeast bread with a sweet poppy seed and raisin filling. A bread-machine shortcut for the holidays.

Love in Disguise: stuffed pig's hearts braised in tomato sauce with mustard and bay leaves. A traditional British offal dish that turns humble cuts tender and rich.

Western beans and franks slow-baked with two kinds of beans, molasses, brown sugar, bacon, and diced orange. A hearty, smoky bean pot with citrus sweetness.

Always Popular lemon meringue pie tempers the egg yolks before cooking, then finishes with boiling water for a fast, fail-proof curd. Topped with classic French meringue in a baked pastry shell.

General Tso's chicken stir-fried with dried red chiles, fresh ginger, and bright orange zest in a savory soy-sherry sauce. The Hunan-style original, faster and lighter than the breaded takeout favorite.

Orange braised pork shoulder with port wine, dried figs, apples, and fresh orange, slow-simmered until fork-tender. Served over sesame brown rice.