The past few weeks have been insane with the switch from summer to school, the changing of the seasons and schedules, and the first round of seasonal sniffles. In our house, it's time for comfort food. Comfort food is by its very nature homemade and low cost - yea! Unfortunately, it's also often rich, fattening, salty, and otherwise not very healthy. Does that stop me from cooking it? Of course not!
I read cookbooks like novels, cover to cover. Weird, I know, but useful. I picked up a Campbell's Classics cookbook on a clearance rack somewhere, so now I have all those old casserole recipes I remember from my childhood. But I also know how to make my own sauces and substitutions, thanks to Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and all the American Heart Association cookbooks. Substitute this, make that from scratch and voila'! Comfort food done light. Here are a few of my tricks.
First, if you must use a canned, condensed soup to make the recipe, look for the "Healthy Request" versions, which have far less fat and sodium that the regular soups. Better yet, make your own sauce instead! For recipes using cream of mushroom soup, try making a roux with a healthy butter substitute, like Smart Balance, and AP or whole wheat flour, and adding low-sodium beef broth instead of milk. Add fresh, minced or even powdered onion and sliced or minced mushrooms to complete the sauce. To make a cream of chicken soup pseudo-sauce, follow the mushroom soup directions, substituting chicken broth for beef, and replacing the onion and mushrooms with poultry seasoning, like Bell's.
Most of the recipes we remember start with one or both of these soups, but this simple roux with broth can be used whenever you want to add some lusciousness to your table. Experiment with various herbs and seasonings to make this base your own, and try it over lean proteins, like boneless, skinless chicken breasts or pork chops. The seasons may be changing, but you can still enjoy that classic comfort food flavor with these simple sauces.
