Article written by Kasey Wilson for Vancouver Sun

It’s time to break out the bubbly for your COVID-19 bubble and host an easy, elegant Easter brunch.

I’ve built this holiday menu around Chef Rod Butters’ flavour-packed Italian Sausage and Goat Cheese Frittata. Delicious at room temperature, it can be pulled out of the oven an hour or more before serving or even made a day ahead and re-warmed for 10 or 15 minutes at 200 F.

Jeanne Kelley’s jewel-like citrus and pomegranate salad is a feast for the eyes as well as the palate, and it, too, can be finished several hours ahead.

End your Easter meal with coffee and the Wickaninnish Inn’s rich, chocolate-smeared granola bars, which will keep, refrigerated, in an airtight container for several weeks.

Granola Bars

Be sure to press the oat mixture firmly into the pan or the bars are likely to crumble. Here’s a neat trick: Place a layer of wax paper or plastic wrap over the bars and press down on them with baking sheet on which you toasted the oats. (Adapted from The Wickaninnish Cookbook: Rustic Elegance on Nature’s Edge, by Joanne Sasvari, Appetite by Random House, 2018.)

4 cups (1 L) old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup (250 mL) sliced almonds

2/3 cup (150 mL) unsalted sunflower seeds

1/4 cup (50 mL) wheat germ

1/3 cup (75 mL) flaxseed (optional)

1 cup (250 mL) water plus 2 tbsp (25 mL) honey

1/3 cup (75 mL) brown sugar

1 cup (250 mL) pitted and chopped dates

1 cup (250 mL) water

1 1/2 cups (375 mL) dried cranberries or raisins

6 oz (170 g) milk or dark chocolate

Preheat oven to 300 F. Line a rimmed 13-by-18-inch baking sheet with foil or parchment paper, leaving an overhang of several inches on each short end. Set aside.

Toss oats with almonds, sunflower seeds and wheat germ, and spread evenly on a second rimmed baking sheet. Place in oven and toast until fragrant and lightly golden, 30 to 45 minutes. Set aside to cool slightly, and transfer to a large bowl.

In a saucepan, bring honey, brown sugar, dates and 1 cup of water to a boil. Simmer for a few minutes, until the dates soften and begin to fall apart.

Pour hot mixture over dry ingredients. Add raisins and mix well with a rubber spatula. Scrape mixture onto prepared pan and press firmly into an even layer. Set aside to cool.

Use overhanging foil to lift cooled bars from pan and cut into desired size. Melt chocolate in a double boiler, spread on bars and place on a rack to set.

Makes 24 to 30 bars.