"comfort food" news and stories

Spicy Miso Soup

by Jennifer Iserloh, Posted Nov 23rd 2009 @ 1:00PM

Photo: Jennifer Iserloh.

I love savory hot foods and miso soup is the perfect rainy day dish to fill the tummy and help you shake off the chill. Even if you aren't in the mood for visiting your local sushi bar, you can still make miso at home.

Miso soup is one of those mysterious dishes that might look hard to prepare, but in fact is the easiest thing in the world -- and it just happens to be low in fat and calories. You can find the paste in your local health-food store and as long as you store it in an airtight zipper-lock bag, it will store well for months in the meat drawer of your fridge.

The only downside to miso is the sodium content. Health professionals say to stay under 2,300 milligrams of salt a day, that's 1 teaspoon. In most packaged miso pastes, one tablespoon can contain up to 750 milligrams alone. So, look for the reduced-sodium or light version that still has the rich flavor with a lot less salt. Get my recipe for spicy miso soup after the jump.

Filed under: The Skinny Chef

Red Lentil Soup - Feast Your Eyes

COMMENTS 1

by Alexa Weibel, Posted Nov 19th 2009 @ 10:00AM

Photo: WhitneyinChicago, Flickr.

Red-lentil soup inspired my love of the brothy dish, both for its natural flavor and for its unparalleled comforting qualities -- in fact, so much so that my house has become known among friends as the "Soup Kitchen," and friends will randomly text while in the neighborhood to ask what's cooking.

I discovered red-lentil soup rather late in life, during my college years, at Sultan's Market, a small but fiercely beloved Mediterranean spot in Chicago's Wicker Park. Braving the bristly winter weather with a bowl of the soup to-go made my walk home doable, whatever obstacles the weather was throwing my way (and these usually included numbingly harsh winds).

And coming home to a spicy bowl of this stuff warmed was inevitably a body- and soul-warming experience. Although I'm fond of preserving the natural flavor of the red lentil by cooking it up in a soup with sparing ingredients (namely broth, garlic, onion and a touch of cumin), you can't go wrong with hardly any variety of the ultimate soothing concoction. Blogger Whitney in Chicago makes hers with red pepper flakes and chipotle, ups the heartiness factor with the addition of rice, and artfully tops it all off with slivered almond and zesty Feta. You should try her recipe -- I wholeheartedly back her in dubbing it a surefire "cure for darkness."

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Filed under: Feast Your Eyes

Cooking Students Create Viagra Dessert

COMMENTS 5

by Slashfood Editor, Posted Nov 16th 2009 @ 4:00PM

Photo: William Fernando Martine, AP

Talk about an after-dinner pick me up.

Students at the Colombia's Quindio cooking school have created a dessert made with Viagra for a food fair in Bogota, the Associated Press reports.

The dessert is a pudding garnished with whipped cream and chocolate. Students said the recipe tells you how to use the "little blue pill" as an ingredient.

What do you think of the Viagra dessert? Let us know in the comments below.

Filed under: News

Happy National Fast Food Day!

COMMENTS 0

by Alexa Weibel, Posted Nov 16th 2009 @ 1:15PM

In-N-Out burgers and shakes. Photo: AppetiteforChina, Flickr.

Admittedly, we have mixed feelings on celebrating National Fast Food Day. But despite the merited fast-food backlash, there's something to be said for throwing caution and health to the curb and indulging in a fatty fast-food burger and fries once in awhile.

It's a sad state of eating affairs that today, 19 percent of American meals are consumed in the car, and fast food has become not simply a convenience or indulgence but the norm. That being said, fast food isn't all bad -- in a continuing trend, some chains are starting to take a markedly different route in fast yet conscientious cuisine, in the vein of Chipotle's "Food with Integrity" motto or Zankou Chicken's aim for freshly prepared fresh food.

Are you a discerning fast-food eater? Take our poll to reveal your fast-food eating habits, then spill your thoughts on fast food eating in the comments.

Is fast food a rare, guilty pleasure for you or is it a regular habit?
I very rarely eat fast food.	35 (40.7%)
I eat fast food on occasion, mostly when I'm on the go and need a quick bite.	36 (41.9%)
I eat fast food all the time - it's affordable and convenient, what more could you ask?	15 (17.4%)

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Filed under: Holidays

'The Thanksgiving Table' - Cookbook Spotlight

COMMENTS 1

by Alexa Weibel, Posted Nov 11th 2009 @ 2:00PM

Photo: Amazon.com.

'The Thanksgiving Table: Recipes and Ideas to Create Your Own Holiday Tradition'
By Diane Morgan
Photography by John A. Rizzo
Chronicle Books -- 2001
Buy it on Amazon

Though Thanksgiving may be conceptually about unity and giving thanks, the feast is often anything but -- be it from menus predominantly meat-centric or overwhelmingly vegetarian that rely upon traditional recipes or adventurous ones, to lively affairs or smaller, more austere gatherings prone to the usual family quibbles.

But with the help of this book and guide, the meal itself is at least guaranteed to go smoothly, with preparation and decoration ideas as well as recipes to suit eaters and appetites of all kinds. Catering to the variety of the holiday's staples -- the smells, the anticipation, the flavor, the feel -- this book is virtually all you need to host the most perfect, memorable Thanksgiving.

See what we tested and find out whether the book's worth buying after the jump.

Filed under: Books