Cheesy, Carby, Crunchy Comfort Food

February 16, 2021

the weather outside is still giving us chills, the comfort inside is best when it comes from your oven! The creamy, cheesy, carby, crunchy food that sates your hunger and soothes your soul, is just what we need at the tail end of winter. Check out a few of our favorite recipes to cozy up to this week.

Familiar and Exotic

Who doesn’t like Chicken Pot Pie? This recipe from Bon Appetit uses a cast iron skillet and store-bought puff pastry, along with rotisserie chicken, peas, turnips, onions, garlic and thyme. The secret ingredient might be the cup of dry white wine, but the picture makes our mouths water. Is it dinnertime?

Pasta is a hands-down comfort food staple and you can count on Epicurious to concoct the most curious comfort food recipes – some you’ve heard of – like the 22-minute Pasta Primavera, and some you haven’t. Let’s take, for starters, the Creamy Pasta with Crunchy Mushrooms, flavored with lemon and Parmesan and lots of black pepper. Here’s something you don’t see/eat every day – crispy mushrooms (such as maitake, oyster, crimini, and/or shiitake) tossed in sizzling hot oil. Creamy-crunch’s quite the combo!

Here’s another one we’ll wager might be a first: Khara Huggi. It’s a one pot-dish made with rice, yellow lentils, black pepper and fried cumin seeds. Ever tasted friend cumin seeds? Us neither! Or, how about Cabbage Potato Pie? Any hands going up? This is basically a skillet full of mashed potatoes, flavored with bacon and sharp cheddar cheese and wrapped up in pretty green cabbage leaves. Comforting AND eye-catching – try to top that!

The Food Network will keep you in comfort for weeks with dozens of recipes; from the Buffalo Cauliflower Mac n’ Cheese to the Chicken and Herb Dumplings or the Twice Baked Potato Casserole. Better put that scale away till spring workout weather hits!

Loaded Cheesy, Carby Goodness

Care to guess which recipes made the top 10 no-fail comfort foods at Taste of Home? This collection includes beef stew, scalloped potatoes, slow cooker mac n’ cheese and apple pie. We’ll take a serving of each!

Australia’s Good Food site takes macaroni and cheese and adds spinach and rosemary to elbow pasta with a generous helping of bechamel sauce and extra Colby and Parmesan cheese. 

You’ll find 39 more delicious pasta, polenta, and sandwich recipes (think thick bread), ranging from the Gnocchi with Pesto Cream, to the Loaded Caprese Toasties layered with Ham and Onion Jam. And that’s how it’s done Down Under!

Creamy, Comforting Soup Recipes

If you’re a fan of no-fail food (and who isn’t?), our list of go-to gurus for comfort food has to include Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman who put together 25 of the best soup recipes. It’s yummy on a soup spoon. From the Creamy Tortellini Soup, which you can have on the table in 15 minutes (customizable for the palates around your dinner table), to the Creamy Mushroom Soup and Chicken Cordon Bleu Soup. These are all-time favorites that can’t miss.

The Chowhound is another reliable site to visit when you’re in the mood for something that warms your belly and soothes your psyche. Take, for example, its twist on tomato soup: Roasted Tomato, Chickpea and Swiss Chard which all come together in a nutritiously spicy combination flavored with cumin, cayenne and allspice. Or the Sweet Potato with Star of Anise Soup with Ginger Cream, or the Roasted Garlic and Smoky Greens Soup, with smoked paprika and pureed potato. Making a grocery list yet?

And finally, Turkey Mulligatawny Soup, which is so richly spiced and tantalizing, it’s worth a second look this time of year. And you can easily use chicken if you don’t have turkey on hand. A little coconut milk makes it creamy, and if you use coconut oil in place of butter, it’s perfect for dairy-free folks.

Comfort and Community in Southshore

Some of the most beautiful homes in Aurora are being built from the ground up in the master-planned community of Southshore. If you don’t live here yet, isn’t it time to explore the options in brand new homes from Taylor Morrison, Century Communities, Richmond American Homes or Toll Brothers? Life at the Lake looks like this – stunning ranch and two-story designs – priced between the $400s and the $700s.