Best Canada Day recipes
Every July 1st, people across Canada come together to celebrate the birth of our wonderful country -- and no birthday party is complete without just the right menu, so dig into some of our favourite Canadian food and toast this wonderful nation!
Canada Day recipes: Drinks
This wine punch celebrates the Maple Leaf flag with plentiful red berries mixed with sparkling white wine.
Every June, reader Wendy Chan of Markham, Ont., finds herself with a lot of rhubarb on hand. So she drinks it -- she makes a lovely refreshing beverage that she wants to share with others. The syrup is fine for up to three weeks in the refrigerator. Garnish drinks with a fresh slice of lemon.
If you order a Caesar anywhere in the world but Canada, you'll likely get a salad and not a cocktail. Here, we do it right with this perfect drink -- cheers!
Canada Day recipes: Starters and sides
Ottawa food writer Gay Cook's recipe for cucumber soup in her book Mrs. Cook's Kitchen: Basics and Beyond (Whitecap, 2000, $24.95) was used as the basis for this light, fresh-tasting soup.
Canada's central northern lakes and marshes provide us with the finest fragrant long-grain wild rice.
Jordon, Ont.-based cooking duo Anna and Michael Olson are known for their respect for Canadian regional cooking. This patriotic wheat-based side dish is adapted from their Inn On the Twenty Cookbook (Whitecap, 2000, $29.95).
Canada Day recipes: Salads
The Canadian Prairies are home to huge fields of mustard, blooming dazzlingly in the summer and producing the world's second largest crop (after India). The flowering Prairies also give us bountiful amounts of canola for oil and pollen for exceptional honey.
This snappy little salad is based on one developed by Toronto cooking doyenne Monda Rosenberg for her book Wonder Foods (Prentice Hall Canada, 2001, $28.95).
Like olive oil, avocado oil is a healthy alternative. It also features excellent viscosity, which means you can use less oil than you normally would. But feel free to experiment with other richly flavoured oils, such as walnut, hazelnut or pumpkin seed, for this multitextured salad, upping the amount to 3 tbsp (45 mL).
Canada Day recipes: Snacks
These savoury bites honour the cheese-making traditions of Ontario and Quebec. For the best flavour, use three- to five-year-old Cheddar.
Serve this sinfully rich dip with crusty bread. For a version that's lower in fat, replace the mascarpone with regular or light softened cream cheese. To serve, use a low, flat-bottomed dish, such as a gratin dish, that holds about 2 cups (500 mL).
These morsels are an excellent source of vitamin A and low in fat.
Canada Day recipes: From the grill
The clam and tomato juices of one of Canada's favourite drinks are mimicked in skewers of marinated turkey coated in a barbecue sauce with tomato ketchup and oyster sauce.
Here, the Prairies meet the sophisticated urban centre of Montreal. Bison (buffalo) is lean, exceptionally tasty meat, like very rich beef. Of course, you can substitute beef steaks for the bison. If you are serving the seafood course, this should be enough for 16 people. If you're serving the steak as a stand-alone main, it should serve eight.
Canada's national motto from our coat of arms– meaning “from sea to sea” – is expressed in culinary terms in this recipe. Scallops from the East Coast and wild salmon from the West are graced with a lively Chinese-style relish as a nod to our country's multiculturalism. If you're serving this and the bison steaks, each will serve 16; if this is the only main course, it will serve eight.
The wine, brandy and subtle orange flavour of these burgers will please adult palates. Top with slices of roasted sweet red pepper.
You can make these well-spiced burgers with either turkey or pork. Serve on a bun with lettuce and tomatoes.
Canada Day recipes: Dessert
Finish your Canada Day feast with this sweet and patriotic ice cream.
Chef Dana McCauley made it her personal mission to come up with the ultimate butter tart recipe. Here's what she came up with!
Well-reviewed Vancouver restaurateur John Bishop's Cooking At My House (Douglas & MacIntyre, 2002, $26.95) is filled with great-tasting home recipes such as this cheesecake, which we've adapted for Homemakers readers.