This dish comes together so quickly it will amaze you and your family. You can try it with Thai green or yellow curry as well. To save time, purchase peeled uncooked shrimp.

There is something truly amusing about serving tiny little bits of this and that as a precursor to the main. Nothing too filling, but altogether satisfying unless you have the appetite of Sasquatch. This combo has caused my friends to dig in without cutlery — it’s that good. You can vary this recipe by preparing the plate with Boursin-style cheese, sugared walnuts, sliced avocado, smoked salmon and date–nut bread. I also like to substitute hot-pepper jelly or peach chutney for the fig jam. Another nice touch is to prepare one larger plate for each couple at the table. This recipe divides the ingredients into four individual servings for four people.

For a Mexican dinner, I substitute tomato salsa and guacamole for the Mango Salsa. Sautéed sweet red peppers and onions make a delicious side dish.

Adapted from The Fondue Cookbook by Gina Steer (Whitecap Books).

Courtesy of www.pc.ca.

So simple to make with so few dishes to clean up - a nutritious dinner in a bowl. This dish can be prepared quickly in the microwave. However, a wok or frying pan can be used as an alternative.

Serve with cherry or plum dipping sauce. Adapted from a VH Sauces recipe.

This white, meaty fish has great flavour whether its prepared simply or not. Rice and sautéed spinach make delicious accompaniments.

Flank steak is a tougher cut of beef. It will be even juicier if you let it sit overnight in a marinade containing the juices of 1 lemon, 1 orange and 1 lime.

This sauce is incredibly versatile. It's used in a whole array of dishes from every day macaroni and cheese to special occasion lasagne. You can even easily increase or decrease the amount according to your needs.

Continuing on the Russian theme, this is a dish we’ve all eaten at least once, probably years ago. The name alone — where it came from, no-one seems to know — makes any home cook feel important. And the taste, no matter what cut of beef you may choose to use (recipes call for everything from yesterday’s prime rib, to filet, to skirt steak — your choice), offers pure rib-sticking comfort.

Beef tenderloin is an expensive cut, but instead of treating your friends to a fancy restaurant, make dinner at home. It will cost less than dining at a high-end steak joint.

This recipe has 3 components to it -- beets, goat cheese phyllo packets and an egg. You can choose to put all three together on one dish, make 3 distinct dishes, or create one unique combination.

Nothing blah about them. Crisp bacon and lettuce teamed up with avocado is an inspiring threesome. Go BLA!

This dish comes together in minutes, but be sure to turn on the fan because the cooking process creates some smoke. Serve French fries and a cooling side of coleslaw with the catfish.

Soy beverages in Tetra Pak cartons are a great alternative to buttermilk and it is full of vitamins and minerals.

Recipe courtesy of Lobel’s Meat Bible (Raincoast Books).

Surprise your taste buds with these tasty burgers.

Recipe courtest of the Dairy Farmers of Canada.

These delicious kabobs are perfect for barbecue cottage cuisine. Recipe courtesy of The Beef Information Centre.

Executive Chef Jason Lloyd of the revitalized Terminal City Club in Vancouver served this dish at a recent winemakers’ dinner. It was delicious. Caramelized onions, with fresh thyme, butter and a touch of Noble Sour — a sippable vinegar of very low acidity — were layered on a puff-pastry shell with grilled pear slices. This was served with a small salad of baby greens tossed in a wild-mushroom vinaigrette, garnished with a quenelle of Devon cream and a drizzle of fresh chive oil, and paired well with Crowsnest Vineyard’s Chardonnay Stahltank 2004 Family Reserve.

This is a very yummy grilled flank steak recipe that I tried for the first time in Southern California. It’s a no-fail recipe that makes good use of a tough cut of beef. Serve with hot tortillas and salsa or with a side of grilled corn on the cob.

Recipe courtesy of McCormick Canada.

This is a family recipe that has been passed down through the ages. This is not one of those crisp-tender veggie dishes — you cook the cauliflower until it’s soft and well-steeped with wine. If purple cauliflower isn’t your thing, try it with dry white wine. My older brother Allen prefers this dish made with red-wine vinegar and sugar rather than with regular vino. Try it all three ways and see what you think.

A soufflé isn't as tricky to make as is often thought. It's true that it must be served immediately for all to enjoy the sight of that spectacular puffy top. But, it's actually very tasty regardless of whether its "breath" has escaped and deflated it.

You can prepare the simple sauce a day in advance. Just heat before serving. When you're ready to serve it, arrange broccoli on a serving platter and top with chicken. Pour sauce over chicken and sprinkle with basil and green onion, if desired. Recipe courtesy of McCormick Canada.

Another fun dish, which when done with minimal care can make you a kitchen hero. Especially when the butter spurts. Steamed vegetables, minimally seasoned, will pair nicely with this rich dish.

My mother started making this dish when we were small. Imagine four little kids sitting around a dinner table with palates so refined that we scarfed up Chicken Marsala like other kids eat Kraft Dinner. Of course, we threw chicken at each other when our parents weren’t looking, so we weren’t totally refined. I use sweet Marsala Fine for a great tasting sauce.

Tuck the grilled chicken pieces into a pita, or lay them on top of hot buttered rice. For a great taste variation, try using turkey, pork or lamb in place of the chicken. You can also roast or broil the meat in the oven instead of grilling it.

The flavour of the dish will change depending on the type of curry you use, so pick the curry flavour you like best and run with it, paste or powder. I buy chicken breast fillets when they’re on sale and keep them in the freezer for quick no-fuss meals.

I had this lovely autumn dish at a restaurant and experimented with it at home. A light sprinkling of cayenne pepper adds just enough bite to balance the sweet sauce. This is delicious with mashed red potatoes and steamed broccoli, which is exactly how the restaurant served it to me.

Pick up cooked chicken fillets, bagged salad, cheese, mango and ciabatta bread at the supermarket on your way home from work and assemble this salad in minutes. The hearty vinaigrette pairs well with leftover turkey too.

Somewhere in the back of your cupboard you have a can of crabmeat. Tonight’s the night. Lemon wedges and hot pepper sauce are the ideal condiments, with steamed green beans and potato salad to round out the meal. Or whatever you have. 

Large uncooked frozen shrimp are so convenient and often on sale. Pick up a bag next time the price is right and pair with beans for an elegant entrée. Garlic will keep in the fridge for quite a while, but for convenience’s sake, you can use jarred minced garlic instead. If you’d like, add a can of diced tomatoes to this dish.

There’s a difference of opinion on this one: some of my tasters preferred a sharp wedge of Gorgonzola with the salad, others favoured the milder Brie. You decide what’s best for you. To make this a dinner salad, add grilled chicken and a baguette.

I’m not going to lie to you — there is some work upfront on this dish. A mandoline helps to slice the potatoes uniformly and it speeds up the process. Once the potatoes are in the oven, you’re home-free until dinnertime. This dish works with the Beef Tenderloin in taste, oven temperature and cooking time. Leftovers are fabulous and will make you the envy of the company lunchroom.

Most of the components of this dish can be prepared ahead, allowing you lots of time to enjoy your guests. Recipe adapted from Gina Steer’s The Fondue Cookbook (Whitecap Books).

Be sure to choose firm cucumbers for this dish. English Cucumbers are the easiest to use because they contain minimal seeds. Otherwise, you can remove the seeds from other cucumber varieties with a small spoon.

Christine Sharp submitted this recipe for Tidings' Maple Syrup Recipe Contest

She makes a simple applesauce to accompany pork that all of her guests rave about.  It has a certain je ne sais quoi, except that only she and her husband know exactly what the "quoi" is. She likes the fact that no one can really tell what makes it taste so good.  The secret is a tablespoon each of maple syrup and calvados.

Skip takeout and start making easy-breezy sandwiches at home. This steak wrap couldn’t be simpler and comes with way less attitude than the teenager rolling up your sub sandwich at the strip mall.

Take advantage of fall’s bounty with these vegetarian stacks topped off with bubbly cheese. It may seem time-consuming to create “Napoleons” but they stack up in a snap. Try to find an eggplant and tomatoes of approximately the same circumference.

If you have trouble finding some of the ingredients for this dish, there are some easy substitutions you can make, and you will still end up with the same delicious results. For the tamarind, make a paste out of lemon juice and dried dates, or use 1/2 cup cider vinegar mixed with 1 Tbsp sugar. For the galangal, use fresh ginger. For the lemon grass, use the rind of 4 small lemons.

In India, a chat is a snack, an appetizer or a light salad.

Recipe adapted from the Canadian Beef Information Centre. Steak Burgers are packed with more flavour than just what’s on top! With fresh ground Round, Chuck or Sirloin from your local grocer, it’s easy to make these signature burgers at home.

Asparagus is best when it’s served immediately. Remember to rinse the morels well because they can harbour sand. This recipe, created by chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten of New York’s Jean Georges Restaurant, was taken from The New York Restaurant Cookbook by Florence Fabricant (Rizzoli International Publications, Inc).

My friend John Ash, a great writer who founded his own restaurant twenty-four years ago in California’s Sonoma County, says that one of the simplest and best ways to cook asparagus is to give it a light coating of olive oil and grill it. Grilling, says John, brings out the sweetness and more of the “vegetal” notes. It may also diminish that other unmentionable asparagus attribute! Add some good olives, thinly sliced prosciutto and maybe a sprinkling of fried capers for a delicious antipasti course. Wine? I’m sure that John would suggest a Russian River Sauvignon Blanc.

Recipe adapted from Great Foods of the World -- Regional Italian, Mexican and Asian Cooking by Evan Kleiman, Susan Feninger, Mary Sue Milliken, Joyce Jue (Fog City Press).