Nutty Quinoa and Mushroom Strudel

The hardest part of entertaining? Pleasing all types of palates, especially when you have guests with restricted diets. This savoury vegan entrée is filled with quinoa and mushrooms for a satisfying, delicious meal even meat lovers will enjoy. To serve the strudel as a side, cut it into eight to 10 smaller pieces.

Chicken Braised with Chestnuts and Shiitake Mushrooms

Few Chinese banquets are without a fancy preparation of a whole chicken or duck. The rich chestnuts and shiitake mushrooms suit the New Year's table and represent fall and winter respectively. The carrot slices stand for gold coins that welcome the coming spring with riches, and the green bok choy reminds us of summer. Don't think of this dish as only for Chinese New Year; it makes a wonderful main course at any table.

Maple-Caramelized Walnut Brioche

Eggplant and Spinach Lasagna

This colourful vegetable lasagna will delight vegetarian guests — and even the most dedicated meat eaters, too — with its rich flavours. You can save time by using 4 cups (1 L) of store-bought pasta sauce instead of making the tomato sauce.

Tricolour Quinoa

By Cindy Ball, Vancouver
Cook of The Year 2009 Winner, Vegetarian category

Cindy layers roasted and sautéed vegetables between three highly flavoured quinoa mixtures to create a colourful vegetarian “lasagna.” This dish was invented not only for her oldest daughter (the lone vegetarian in a household of meat lovers), but also so the whole family could enjoy more vegetarian meals.

Walnut Mocha Torte

This elegant European-style torte layers walnut cake with coffee buttercream then envelops it all in mocha. For the buttercream, soften the butter until creamy before adding it to the cooled egg mixture.

Burrata with Grilled Vegetables & Fruit

Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse Cake

Crunchy meringue, silky mousse, moist chocolate cake and decadent ganache give flavour and texture to this ultimate cake, which is well worth the effort to make. You'll find already skinned roasted hazelnuts in some supermarkets. If not, just follow the tip, below.

Cinnamon Lamb Chops with Agro-Dolce Eggplant

It is hard to believe that this entire meal for 6 can be prepared in under an hour. The ingredients in this main course and side dishes are completely Canadian (including the Canola oil), but just like our country's unique cultural mosaic -- they have been flavoured with exotic spices and other wonderful additions which highlight Canada's tolerance and respect for people of other lands. The lamb was reared in Ontario and the eggplant can be grown in almost any Canadian garden. I sometimes serve the lamb with chick pea fries and chuckle when I remind my Indian in-laws that Canada and Australia are now growing garbanzo beans, too.

Grilled Rack of Lamb with Blueberry Shiraz Reduction Sauce

I am very excited about entering my recipe in the 2009 Canadian Living Cook of the Year Contest. I am an avid home-cook and love creating new and exciting home recipes to make for my family and friends. I am a firm believer in seasonal cooking, using the freshest ingredients available, and making use of local ingredients whenever possible. Consequently, I was delighted to see that this year's contest was to feature Canadian ingredients. I wanted to take things a step further and include some local Newfoundland ingredients. Newfoundland and Labrador has some wonderful producers for fresh, often organic, produce, seafood and meat products...and of course the island is well known for it's abundance of wild berries. Berry picking is a provincial past-time in late summer and early fall and many families, including my own, can be found on the hillsides or barrens, bent over and collecting gallons of sweet, juicy berries to be used fresh, or to be frozen for use during the long winter months. I knew as soon as I read about this year's contest that I wanted to feature these berries, along with our wonderful, locally-raised lamb and artfully crafted local wines, in my recipe. I hope you enjoy a taste of Newfoundland!