As the weather chills and the sun sets earlier in the day, it’s always comforting to have a warm, homey meal in the evening. You don’t have to spend tons of money or perform fancy kitchen tricks to get the flavors and textures you love. Most comfort foods can be prepared using a few essential ingredients. There are six nutritious excellent weather comfort foods.
Hey, I hope you had a great weekend.
Here in Canada, we are deep into fall. The kids and I have been exploring our town by playing Pokémon GO. It has been fun discovering new areas.
Today, I will share some comfort food ideas to help you through the brisk season.
1. Soup is a Comfort food
Vegetable soup provides tons of delicious nutrients and is typically low in calories. Soup that contains meat or grains adds bulk, protein, and minerals to make you feel fuller longer. Hot soup is a staple for cool weather and an optimal combination of cheap, easy, and nutritious.
One major drawback of soup is the potential for high sodium and saturated fat content. Canned and premade soup is usually loaded with salt to enhance flavor, while cream, cheese, and chowder varieties contain higher fat content due to the added dairy products.
To help control nutritional quality, try making your own from scratch. In a quart pot, add a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and saute one-half of a diced onion. Then, add a diced carrot and diced celery stalk and saute for about five minutes. Once the vegetables are tender, throw in other vegetables, such as mushrooms, peas, or corn, and pour about two cups of low-sodium vegetable stock. Add lentils, beans, or hearty grains and shredded or diced meat like lean chicken, turkey, or beef to bulk up the soup with fiber and protein. Don’t forget the bay leaf and your favorite combination of spices.
2. Chili
Chili is one of the soup’s chunky, tomato-based cousins. It is hearty enough to be the main course but can also be enjoyed as a side to compliment other flavors and textures. It’s ideal for slow cooker meals, delicious leftovers, or slopped between two Kaiser buns.
The essential ingredients for a reliable chili dish are:
- Ground beef
- Kidney beans
- Onion
- Garlic
- Tomato sauce
- Chili powder
- Oregano
- Cumin
- Salt
- Ground black pepper
There are plenty of variations depending on your taste and tolerance to heat. For example, you can decrease the overall fat content by substituting ground turkey for ground beef. You can add pinto beans, diced green bell pepper, and ground cayenne pepper for an extra kick. Top with shredded cheddar cheese or sour cream and eat with a spoon or corn tortilla chips.
3. Stew as a Comfort Food
Stew is a cross between a hearty soup and a classic meat and potato dish. Like chili, the stew is prepared quickly in a slow cooker but can also be heated on the stove or roasted in the oven. Stew is most commonly made with large chunks of beef. You can usually find packaged beef stew meat at any major grocery store. If not, you want to select either chuck or round cuts because they are tougher, leaner cuts that yield mouthwatering tender results.
If beef isn’t your preference, you can always substitute boneless lamb shoulder, spicy Italian sausage, or even pork belly. Try chickpeas, black beans, or quinoa instead of meat for a high-protein vegetarian option.
Whichever protein source you use, you can get that classic stew flavor by adding potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, parsley, thyme, and salt. As for the liquid component, you can add low-sodium beef, chicken, or vegetable stock and a dab of tomato paste or Worcestershire sauce. Keep some warm Italian bread handy to sop up the broth at the end.
4. Classic Meat and Potatoes
There is nothing like the smell of a pot roast cooking in the oven and the texture of cheesy sliced potatoes with a slight crisp and tang. The classic meat and potato dishes bring instant warmth and comfort to the most dreadful days and channel instant feelings of being home.
The best part about these comfort foods is that you either stick to the basics for a quick and easy meal or jazz them up and play around with your favorite flavors and seasonings. For example, try a rib roast, lamb leg, or flat-cut brisket instead of the classic beef chuck or pork loin. Instead of a simple baked potato, consider roasted red potatoes encrusted with Parmesan cheese, fingerlings drizzled in lemon juice, or yellow potatoes au gratin. Go easy on the butter and salt, and add some colorful vegetables to balance the nutrient content of the whole meal.
The “meat” of the meal doesn’t necessarily have to come from an animal. You can always showcase hearty portabella mushrooms, eggplant, turnips, and winter squash. Try marinating the main veggies in olive oil and garlic or crusting them with a rub of fennel, black peppercorn, and salt.
5. Comfort Food Casseroles
Growing up, you may have been overstuffed with green beans, sweet potatoes, tuna noodles, shepherd’s pies, or lasagna. Although these are beautiful tastes of home, consider experimenting with more vegetables and grains and less butter, cheese, and bread. The term “casserole” implies that a dish is simmered in the oven.
Although cheese makes any meal taste delicious, you don’t need that much to create a savory, creamy texture. For instance, try substituting thinly sliced zucchini for lasagna noodles and loading your dish with nutrient-rich greens like broccoli, spinach, and kale. Play around with interesting, more pronounced cheeses and grate them sparingly throughout the layers instead of slathering your meat and veggies with gobs of shredded mozzarella.
Here are a couple of modern casserole ideas that serve as complete meals packed with nutrients:
- Chicken breast, quinoa, and broccoli with Gruyere cheese
- Spinach and artichoke in a light alfredo sauce
- Lentil enchilada with corn, beans, and avocado
- Lean ground turkey with kale and whole grain pasta
The possibilities are endless. Just combine your favorite lean meat, vegetables, low-sodium broth, spices, and a small dose of cheese or cream, throw it all in the oven or slow cooker, and presto. You have yourself a hearty meal and comfort food.
6. Pasta
Even if you didn’t grow up in an Italian family, you could certainly appreciate the versatility and reliability of a classic pasta dish. The hardest part about making pasta is deciding which type of noodle to use. The general rule is to use light noodles for light sauces and meats and heartier noodles for heartier sauces and meats.
Here’s an example of how to appropriately pair some of the most common noodles:
- Macaroni isn’t just for kids; it has an uncanny ability to hold the cheese. This pasta is ideal for cold salads, hot casseroles, or baked alongside your favorite meat and veggies.
- Penne, which has a smooth surface, is ideal for stickier sauces, and its sibling, penne rigate, which has a rippled surface, can pick up more butter and oil.
- Rotini is a tightly wound spiral that can capture thick sauces and bits of meat for flavor-loaded bites.
- Rigatoni is a staple for heartier sauces and meats. You’ll frequently find this noodle in southern Italian dishes.
- Farfalle, also known as bowtie pasta, is excellent in creamy dishes, cold salads, and hot soups.
- Capellini, or angel hair pasta, is rather dainty and should be paired with oil-based sauces, pesto, and light cheese dishes and tossed with vegetables.
- Fettuccine is usually found smothered in alfredo sauce with shrimp or scallops. However, it is hearty enough to handle heavier meat sauces like Bolognese.
- Linguini is a relative to fettuccine and is commonly paired with seafood and clam sauce. It can also take on heavier meats and robust tomato-based sauces like its cousin.
There are so many types of noodles, and even more when considering the Asian varieties. To keep your pasta dish balanced and nutritious, opt for extra virgin olive oil over butter and select leaner cuts of meat. Use cheese moderately and more as a garnish than a focal point, and toss in nutrient-dense vegetables.
Hungry Yet?
No need to grit your teeth through the bitterness this coming season. With these classic dishes, you’ll stay warm and energized in the chilly weather. Just be sure to keep your meals balanced and full of plant-based nutrients to remain healthy and strong all year round.
Take care!
Rick Kaselj, MS
If you want to know what foods will help you restore your natural vitality and get slim and stay slim while ending your muscle and joint pain, check out the Best Foods That Rapidly Slim & Heal In 7 Days program here.
