Make-Ahead Beef Enchiladas

Slow-cooker dishes like these hearty enchiladas are real lifesavers during the lead-up to the holidays. The filling simmers away untended in the slow cooker all day, which frees you up for other things (or gives you a much-needed night off!).

Grilled Chicken and Melon Salad

This lunch or light supper salad is a cornucopia of sweet melon, mellow avocado, savoury grilled chicken and bright citrus flavourings. You can prepare the dressing, grill the chicken and scoop out the melons earlier in the day for last-minute assembly.

Mustard Sage Pork Chops With Israeli Couscous

Tender-crisp edamame adds a healthful twist to this wintery mushroom couscous. Mustard, chicken broth and sage come together with the pork chop pan juices to create a quick and tasty sauce. Serve with arugula salad with a lemony dressing.

Maple & Chipotle Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Prepare this summertime classic in the morning and let it cook all day for an easy-peasy, super tasty dinner that'll definitely have you going back for more.

Chinese-Style Oxtail

From Jennifer McLagan's wonderfully innovative cookbook Bones: Recipes, History and Lore (HarperCollins, 2005), comes this aromatic dish that celebrates succulent oxtails. It's delicious with rice and a vibrant green vegetable.

Chicken, Apple and Cheese Mini Empanadas

Tender turnovers are perfect to exchange with friends, so why not host a preholiday appetizer exchange to do just that? Have everyone create a variety of fillings, then bake a selection of flavours to swap. 

Roasted Vegetable Pasta Bake

Creamy and rich with colourful vegetables, this pasta is terrific. You can assemble the dish ahead of time to pop in the oven when the group gets together. Use a thick, good-quality pasta sauce.

Mushroom Venison Ragout Sauce

All this fabulously rich sauce needs is a bed of broad noodles, such as pappardelle or fettuccine. This makes enough to tuck extra away in the freezer for another meal or to use when making lasagna.

Cider and Maple Grilled Duck

This recipe moves duck from the roasting pan to the barbecue.

Many-Mushroom Manicotti