Tag: comfort food

Rice noodles with aubergine and spinach

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At this time of year all I want to eat is comfort food. And by comfort food I mean anything with melted cheese or copious amounts of cream. Lovely to eat, but not necessarily healthy. Luckily there are some dishes without cream and cheese that still hit the spot, and this is definitely one out of that category.

Imagine cubes of aubergine crispy on the outside but moist and full of absorbed olive oil within, paired with garlic, wilted spinach and rice noodles. All embraced by a light sauce of lime juice, fish sauce and sesame oil. Yu-um!

Rice noodles with aubergine and spinach, serves 2

1 aubergine

a lot of olive oil

1 garlic clove

2 handfuls spinach

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 lime, zest and juice

2 tbsp fish sauce

2-3 tsp sesame oil

90-100 g vermicelli rice noodles

Bring some water to the boil. Put the noodles in a bowl and cover with the just boiled water, Peel and dice the aubergine. Wilt the spinach in olive oil. Remove to a bowl while frying the aubergine dices on high heat and in a lot of oil in the same pan. 

Once the aubergine pieces have got some colour, add the spinach to the pan, press in the garlic and and add the lime zest and juice, sesame oil and cayenne pepper. Let it sizzle for a few minutes, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Drain the noodles and add them to the pan. Toss and serve. 

Tray bake with sweet potato, peppers and chorizo

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Sometimes finding dinner inspiration in your own cupboards really work. That is this dish a good example of. it is perfect to double, triple or quadruple for more dinner guests. It is also healthy and super easy to make. And it is proper comfort food.

A plate of tasty healthy food that gives you a warm hug from within.

Roast sweet potato and peppers in the oven.

Add chorizo to the veg to cook together the last 15 minutes.

Squeeze with lime juice and top with plenty of chopped crisp spring onions for a different texture.

Tray bake with sweet potato, peppers and chorizo, serves 1

1 sweet potato

1 pepper of any colour you like

5-10 cm cooking chorizo

4 spring onions, sliced

1 lime wedge

olive oil

Preheat the oven to 180C. Wash the pepper and peel the sweet potato. Cut into same sized pieces. Place in an oven proof dish and drizzle with olive oil. Season. Toss to coat the vegetables with oil.

Place in the oven for 20 minutes, stir around once to cook evenly. Peel and slice the chorizo and add to the dish and let it cook for another 10-15 minutes. Plate, squeeze with lime and sprinkle with spring onions.

 

My everyday chilli

Published on by Hanna2 Comments

I adore comfort food, and I love when eating something makes you feel better. Sometimes you notice the physical effects straight away; your belly feels full, you get energy again and you stop feeling dizzy. But it almost always, at least if it is well cooked food, makes you happier. If I am down it helps to eat. Not for the sake of eating, but everything feels a bit better after you have eaten something warming and your belly is full.

With the autumn, or nearly winter, hitting London, I feel I need something comforting for supper almost everyday. That warm embrace of hearty food is difficult to beat and for me a few things hits the bull’s eye. Creamy dishes and casseroles or soup. This is from the latter category and really does the trick. With a bit of a kick to it as well as the melted cheese on top and the bread to soak up the juices in the bowl this qualifies as one of the best autumnal comfort dishes out there, don’t you think?!

My everyday chilli, serves 6

1 kg beef mince

2 cans á 400 g chopped tomatoes (of good quality), one with chilli if available

100 ml water

1/2 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves

3 tsp cumin

3-4 tsp chipotle paste

1/2 tsp chilli flakes

6-7 drops tabasco

2 tbsp mild chilli sauce

1 tbsp tomato purée

a pinch of brown sugar

2 tbsp  balsamic vinegar

1 tsp worcestershire sauce

400 g kidney beans, canned – rinsed and drained

Fry the meat in a large pan. Add salt and pepper. Remove the meat and pour out the meat juices. Fry the onions and garlic until soft but not browned in olive oil. Add the meat, chopped tomatoes and water. Bring to the boil. Add everything but the beans. Season and add more spices if needed. Let it boil until the sauce has thickened. Add the beans and cook for another few minutes to warm up the beans.

Serve with grated cheese, sourcream and bread. And perhaps some salad.

Creamy polenta with mushrooms and chorizo

Published on by Hanna4 Comments

I’ve tried once before to make creamy polenta but I failed terribly although (or despite of) I followed the instructions on the back of the packet. To not repeat my failure I consulted an Italian cookbook (Bringing Italy Home by Ursula Ferigno) and a google-search, and that made me succeed this time. Yay!

There are few different types of polenta, both yellow and white, and according to the cookbook the yellow polenta that takes about 40 minutes to cook is the best one. I could only find yellow 1-minute polenta, but that worked well too.

I didn’t have parmesan at hand, so I used a Swedish mature hard cheese instead and at the end I added, very unorthodox, a dollop of Philadelphia cheese (I picked that up in the google search) and the result was a creamy fluffy polenta with lots of flavour.

I kept the trimmings simple, just fried button mushrooms and chorizo but it complemented the creamy polenta very well. A perfect weekday supper for a gloomy day, and if you use the quick polenta like I did, this is done in about 10 minutes.

Creamy polenta with mushrooms and chorizo, serves 2

100 g chorizo, in slices

200 g button mushrooms, in quarters

chopped parsley (optional)

butter and oil for frying

600 ml chicken- or vegetable stock

150 g polenta grains

50 g butter

150 ml finely grated cheese of parmesan type

2 garlic cloves, pressed

salt, white pepper

1 tbsp Philadelphia

Bring the stock to the boil in a large saucepan. Fry in separate pans the mushrooms in butter and the chorizo in oil. Season the mushrooms. Pour the polenta grains bit by bit into the stock, stirring with a wooden spoon until it thickens (which is fast). Remobve from heat and ass butter, cheese, garlic, salt, pepper and at the end the cream cheese. Serve in bowls with the mushrooms and chorizo. All you need is a fork – this is comfort food.

Asparagus risotto

Published on by Hanna3 Comments

Right now our diet mainly consists of rhubarb and aspargus. I love both, so it is not a problem but one has to come up with a few new ways of eating it, not to grow bored.

When it was rainy and cold last week, I made a creamy asparagus risotto. Seasonal comfort food. 🙂

Asparagus risotto, serves 2-3

300 g aborio rice

2 shallots, finely chopped

1 glass dry white wine (or rosé)

olive oil

1 l chicken stock

100 ml grated parmesan

200 g asparagus

salt and pepper

To serve:

chopped parsley

more parmesan

Heat up the oilve oil in a large pan and fry the onions on medium heat for a few minutes. Add the rise and watch it go transparent. Pour in the wine and let half of it evaporate Add a ladle of stock and stir while it is simmering. When the pan is dry, add another ladle and continue doing this until the rice is soft (about 20 minutes). Cut the asparagus into smaller pieces and fry them in oil on medium heat for five minutes. Set aside. When the rice is cooked, add the parmesan and season with salt and pepper. Add the asparagus and serve straight away. Add some parmesan and parsley to each plate.