Melanie Hunter

Let me begin with the end: while cleaning up after our delicious dinner of Pistachio-crusted salmon, I was elated to discover what looked like slender sheets of toffee attached to the foil that was used to bake the salmon. It wasn’t toffee, but rather the runoff from the sauce that was brushed onto the salmon. "Dare I try it?" I asked myself. I like to eat chocolate flavoured with cayenne pepper, so why not try maple curry Dijon toffee? As you can probably guess, I tried it. Let me just say that I really enjoyed cleaning up this dinner. And that the foil had very little residue on it once I (finally) disposed of it.

The Herbed chicken meatballs with spaghetti dish would definitely impress my parents. My mother would love the simple yet flavourful tomato and wine pasta sauce, while my father would dig right into the meatballs and likely not say a word until after his second helping. (Correction: it would likely be three words, “What’s for dessert?”)

My 19-year-old sister-in-law chose the Chunky Sweet Potato Fries with Herbed Yogurt Dip and paired it with her favourite Chatelaine recipe to date, the Hearty Middle Eastern Supper Salad. She had invited a classmate over to join us for a weeknight dinner before they headed out for the evening. I approved of her choices. Who doesn’t love sweet potato fries? And with freshly-made herbed yogurt dip? Yummy.

My 19-year-old sister-in-law said, between mouthfuls that is, that the vegetarian Baked tomato risotto tasted “like fancy restaurant pasta.” She also agreed that it would be a good recipe for her to keep on her roster of nice meals to make for (or with) her boyfriend.

Add this recipe, the Mediterranean tomato and bean salad, to your list of simple, impressive, protein-filled, vegan-friendly salads that will wow your guests. And, as a bonus, you can even make it ahead and refrigerate it for up to three days. Mind you, our leftovers won’t last for three days. Perhaps if you triple the recipe?