Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Lovely Bowls of Comfort

Hiya!

Dinner tonight involved a new recipe, an old favorite, and a big bowl of comfort - looks like Fall is here! The past few days have been pretty crazy and tonight after work I decided to spend some quality time in my kitchen and unwind a little bit. This gem of a recipe arrived in my inbox today and I knew that I had to make it!

I put on my favorite sweatpants, turned up some relaxing music, and tuned out the world chopping, stirring, and dicing. Before I even got started a put a small potato in the oven to bake to have alongside the bolognese which are a go-to comfort food for me.

I halved the recipe and followed it to a T, except that I used water instead of vegetable broth, skipped the almond milk, and used ~3/4T dried basil instead of fresh. It is all the comfort of a thick Italian sauce with tons of veggies, no oils, and all-around deliciousness. I added about 1/4c of lentils and BBQ sauce for some extra tang.




On my agenda for the remainder of the night: Modern Family and some homework so I don't have to tackle it all on Sunday.

The week has been flying by yet I am so very happy that tomorrow is Thursday. I've been enjoying some other comforting meals in bowls since it's been in the 50s thus far:

Hot cereal with leftover baked apple and blueberries:


Delicious salads:



Trader Joe's Reduced Sodium Red Pepper and Tomato Soup with a grilled cheese on Udi's whole grain bread:



Black beans and brown rice with spinach, okra, and carrots:


Last night I went to see Mark Bittman speak which I really enjoyed. There weren't a ton of new statistics on food that I learned but I walked away with a few friendly reminders of points I tend to forget at times:
  • He is encouraging people to become "less-meat-tarians" and reduce their intake of meat as today's levels of consumption will not be sustainable in even 10 years from now.
  • We are subsidizing all of the wrong foods. Imagine being able to shop at a subsidized farmers market and bring farm fresh, nutritious foods into your home at a lower cost!
Tomorrow it's supposed to warm back up for the week and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't ecstatic for this change! Goodnight!

What are some of your favorite comfort foods?Have you ever gone to hear a food writer / advocate speak? Who was it and what did they have to say?

3 comments:

  1. Tonight was the perfect evening for sweats and a hot meal. I'm freezing in my apartment right now even with both!

    Bummed I missed seeing Mark Bittman!

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  2. My mom made a homemade stew and cornbread the other day and I think that is a big comfort food. For me also it would have to be my morning bowl of hot oatmeal...yum

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  3. You know when you have grilled cheese with tomato soup it is a good day ; )

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