Pot Roast with Winter Root Vegetables

This dish from the February 2005 "Eat Well for Less" set of six budget-wise menus is ideal for Sunday dinner because it leaves leftovers for another night and possibly even sandwich fillings for weekday lunches. Root vegetables are the economical in-season choice.

Tofu-Stuffed Eggplant with Mushroom Ragout

By Laurie Sadowski, winner, Vegetarian Protein category.

This fresh-tasting vegetarian dish impressed us because it is suitable for not only vegetarians but also vegans, as well as people who eat gluten- and dairy-free diets, making it perfect for gatherings of those with food allergies and intolerances. Nutritional yeast, such as that from Bob's Red Mill, can be found in health food and some grocery stores.

Maple Crusted Cedar Plank Salmon

I love to barbecue, and this is my family's favourite way to eat salmon. We always buy a few extra maple sugar leaves from the farmer's market to use on the salmon. We also make our own maple syrup from our trees, so this makes it more personal. I serve the sweet salmon with a tart cranberry icewine compote, which sets the flavours off nicely. The icewine is made not far from us, in Prince Edward Country, Ontario, so that is local as well. Finally, we grow fiddleheads on our property, which are just coming into season now, so I think this makes a perfect side dish.

Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies

I am going to say it outright: this is the best chocolate chip cookie I have EVER made.
I can typically control myself when it comes to indulging in all my home baking, but this time around I inhaled about 1/3 of the batch before I even realized what was going on! I’ll let you in on the two secret ingredients as to why these cookies are so addictively delicious: firstly, they contain espresso powder. You’ll want to make sure it’s instant espresso powder not just ground espresso, it should be the kind that dissolves completely into liquid. Espresso intensifies the flavour of chocolate, so you should consider adding it into your favourite chocolate cakes as well!
Second, sprinkling large flake sea salt onto these cookies as soon as they come out of the oven is an absolute game changer. Salt in general is the ingredient that brings all the flavours together, but both the texture and flavour of those little salty flakes as you eat this cookie will have you coming back for more. I baked these while I was in New York and found chocolate “morsels” at their grocery stores; these seem to just be an alternative name to chocolate chips, but they tend to be larger, so consider using these if you manage to find them, or large semi-sweet chocolate chips to add to that chocolate decadence. With the addition of nutty browned butter and toasted pecans, this is sure to become your favourite cookie recipe too!

Peel-and-Eat Shrimp Boil

Edamame

For another appetizer, look for edamame (fresh soybeans) in the freezer section of the grocery store or Asian market.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkin seeds make a terrific snack — just like peanuts, it's impossible to eat only one!

Filbert Sponge Cake

Canadians have always loved cakes. In fact, one Victorian immigrant described Canada as the "land of cakes." There were cakes to eat with preserves, with sherry, with tea ... and for a picnic, a showy cake dusted with icing sugar.

My Macaroni Goulash

A recipe I created for my daughter's Grade 12 Home Economics Class. She needed to take in a recipe to cook and thought she would take one that she liked to eat. I make it quite often and it is loved by all .

White Chicken Chili

I like to prepare this in my crockpot and take it to my daughters home for a week night dinner. They get to come home to a home cook meal and I get to sit down and enjoy it with them. I serve it in big bowls and have hot crispy rolls to eat with it. It's a perfect dish for the winter months, a great comfort food.