Have a winning recipe?

What is Inland Northwest flavor? If you wanted to showcase the best Inland Northwest cuisine for someone who had never been to the region before, what would you make?

You can help us create the ultimate Inland Northwest menu by entering your recipes in The Spokesman Review’s Flavors of the Inland Northwest Recipe Contest. Winners in each of four categories will be asked to demonstrate their dish or participate in a cook-off at The Spokesman-Review’s annual Cooking Expo on Feb. 25. And professional chefs will use the winning recipes to demonstrate a four-course Ultimate Inland Northwest Meal at the Expo on Feb. 26.

Here’s what you need to know to enter:

There are four categories: appetizers, salads/side dishes, entrees and desserts. Your recipe must reflect the flavors of the Inland Northwest and will be judged by a panel of food professionals. You may enter more than one category, but you can be chosen as a finalist in only one. The person with the winning recipe in each category will receive $500 worth of cash or prizes. Second place winners will receive $250 worth of cash or prizes. The contest is open to amateur cooks who are at least 18 years old. Cowles Publishing employees and their family members are not eligible.

The appetizer category is being sponsored by the Dairy Farmers of Washington. Entries in the Flavors of the Inland Northwest Super Bowl Appetizers with Cheese category must be original recipes that use at least two varieties of cow’s milk cheeses. Appetizer preparation must take 30 minutes or less. Three finalists in the appetizer category will compete in a live cook-off on Jan. 22 at Everyday Gourmet. The winner of that cook-off also will demonstrate the recipe at the Expo.

In the entrees and desserts categories, the top two finalists will compete in a live cook-off at the Cooking Expo. The winner of the salads/side dishes category will demonstrate his or her recipe at the Expo. All recipes entered in the contest should take no longer than 30 minutes to prepare, not counting final cooking time such as baking. Entries for all categories must be received at The Spokesman-Review’s downtown offices, 999 W. Riverside Ave., by 5 p.m. Friday, Jan. 14.

Recipes must be typed on 8 1/2 -by-11-inch paper with ingredients listed in the order of use. Each entry must include a statement, typed on a separate sheet of paper and no longer than 150 words, explaining why you feel the recipe best reflects the flavors of the Inland Northwest.

Entrants must complete and sign an entry form for each recipe they are submitting. Entry forms and official rules are available at all Spokesman-Review offices, 999 W. Riverside Ave., 13208 E. Sprague Ave. or 608 Northwest Boulevard, Suite 200 in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; Everyday Gourmet, 2829 E. 29th Ave., or online at www.spokaneiscooking.com. Click on activities.

For more information, call 459-5446.