#cbusfoodbloggers: Cooking with Zest

The #cbusfoodbloggers got a sneak peek of Zest Juice Co.’s newest venture called Cooking with Zest last week at 1400 Food Lab and we are PUMPED to tell you all about it.

For those who aren’t familiar, Zest specializes in cold-pressed juice, and has four locations in Columbus (Grandview, Dublin, Short North, and Easton). In addition to juice, their store menu includes smoothies, bowls, and sandwiches.

This fall, Zest is launching a cooking class series called Cooking with Zest with their Executive Chef Alyse Cho. After spending a couple of hours cooking with Alyse, I think it’s safe to say she is a WONDERFUL human. Insightful, humble, and humorous; Alyse is not only a vegetarian chef but also a yoga teacher, and she is a master at making healthful cooking fun and approachable.

Each of Chef Cho’s cooking classes will feature a variety of vegan meals, hands-on cooking demonstrations, and a to-go box full of the class creations to take home.

The food blogger sneak peek of the cooking classes started with cashew cream parfaits!

Cashew cream is a super easy base for sauces and parfaits made from cashews that have been soaked overnight. It’s dairy free and can be morphed into sweet or savory creations. Our parfaits were loaded with lemon juice and lots of zest (of course!); they tasted like rich cheesecake.

Next we turned our attention to a veg-heavy tofu scramble and flax-crusted sweet potato and kale hash. I’ve never tried this method of flax-crusting before, but I’ll definitely be using it in the future! I’m thinking flax-crusted tofu would be a great place to start experimenting.

Thankfully, cooking class attendees are given copies of the recipes to take home. Each of the three dishes we demoed were healthy, light, and flavorful. I will definitely recreate them at home!

Zest’s cooking classes will be held in the 1400 Food Lab kitchen. 1400 Food Lab is a commercial kitchen and self-proclaimed “food experience center”. We had the pleasure of dining in their gorgeous banquet room, located just outside the kitchen.