Monica L. Helton, Recipe Tester

A list of all the recipes Monica L. Helton has tested.

A metal serving tray with two apricot daiquiris with stir sticks, a juiced lemon, and a pot with poached apricots.

Apricot Daiquiri

This apricot daiquiri will erase your outdated notion of the daiquiri as a cloying girlie blender drink. And it’ll exponentially up your summer entertaining game.

Crispy roasted Brussels sprouts on a rimmed baking sheet.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

So tantalizingly crisp at the edges, incredibly tender yet not mushy at the center, and lovely through and through. They’ll haunt you forever. In a good way.

Three orange madeleines in a medeline tin.

Orange Madeleines

Tender, buttery, and enhanced with a subtle citrus lilt. Just as Proust would have wanted. (No madeleine tin? No worries. They’re just as lovely when made in a mini-muffin pan.)

A nonstick skillet filled with scrambled eggs topped with chopped chives

Scrambled Eggs

Scrambled eggs. They may seem so simple as to defy a recipe. And yet sometimes a precise technique makes all the difference. Here’s how to make the best ones ever.

A glass of blueberry spinach smoothie on a wooden plank.

Carrot Ginger Juice

Yeah, we know, you’ve probably already experienced carrot ginger juice. But we think you’re gonna wanna try this unconventional and only subtly sweet rendition made with pear instead.

A round vegetable galette, with one slice cut out of it

Vegetable Galette

Because who doesn’t want pie for dinner?! And this vegetable galette gets it exactly right with a buttery crust, a creamy cheese sauce, and oh-so-sweet roasted veggies.

Six tahini cookies on a piece of parchment with chopped pistachios on the cookies and on the parchment.

Tahini Cookies

Chewy and nutty and salty and subtly sweet and guaranteed to be a little more exotic than any other cookie you’ve ever had. Also gluten-free as well as dairy-free and egg-free and, yes, paleo-friendly.

Coconut Rice

Coconut Rice

When done right, coconut rice is an almost indescribably lovely side dish that’s ever so slightly sweet and laughably easy and incredibly versatile. Here’s how to make it.

A white gravy boat filled with cranberry relish with a halved lime and juicer in the background.

Sweet and Spicy Cranberry Relish

Made in minutes from just five ingredients, this cranberry relish belongs in your weeknight repertoire and not just on your Thanksgiving table. Did we mention it freezes beautifully?