Comfort Zone
These seven easy recipe makeovers turn classic favorites like mac 'n' cheese and meat loaf into dishes that are comfortingly healthy.
By: Nicole Davis
3/2008
3/2008
We all have particular
foods and snacks we
turn to in times of need:
that late-night pizza after
a fight with a friend, or
a stack of nachos after a
rough day at the office.
They certainly provide
the comfort we need
but rarely the nutrients,
packed as they usually
are with saturated fats,
refined sugars, and empty
carbohydrates. Of course,
celery sticks will never fill
us with the same sense
of wellbeing as a bowl of
macaroni and cheese, so
what to do the next time
the comfort crave hits?
"The trick," says Mollie
Katzen, author of the classic
The New Moosewood
Cookbook (Ten Speed
Press, 2000), "is to turn
healthier ingredients into
a sensual experience-
that way, they become
comfort foods." With a
little expert advice, it's
easy to put a healthy twist
on old favorites.
What do you crave?
Think about the foods that push your buttons: What are you most likely to grab, order, or pop in the microwave when the comfort craving strikes? For many, it's food that's easy to prepare or ready to eat. Potato chips, for example, topped the list in a recent Cornell University study of Americans' food habits. For others, it's gooey favorites like mac 'n' cheese. "The truth is, most of us can't imagine life without chocolate, ice cream, pasta, bread, and potatoes," says Barbara Rolls, the Guthrie Chair of Nutrition at Penn State University and author of The Volumetrics Eating Plan (Harper, 2007), a weight-loss program that focuses on satisfying hunger with filling, nutritious foods. Rather than eliminating certain items from your diet, Rolls's research suggests you identify the foods you can't give up and find imaginative ways to raise their nutritional content and lower their caloric density.
Think about the foods that push your buttons: What are you most likely to grab, order, or pop in the microwave when the comfort craving strikes? For many, it's food that's easy to prepare or ready to eat. Potato chips, for example, topped the list in a recent Cornell University study of Americans' food habits. For others, it's gooey favorites like mac 'n' cheese. "The truth is, most of us can't imagine life without chocolate, ice cream, pasta, bread, and potatoes," says Barbara Rolls, the Guthrie Chair of Nutrition at Penn State University and author of The Volumetrics Eating Plan (Harper, 2007), a weight-loss program that focuses on satisfying hunger with filling, nutritious foods. Rather than eliminating certain items from your diet, Rolls's research suggests you identify the foods you can't give up and find imaginative ways to raise their nutritional content and lower their caloric density.
