Winter Comfort Foods Made Healthy

By Chef Selwyn Richards
Pride Culinary Specialist

There’s nothing more comforting than a nice, hot meal on a winter’s day. The problem is, what many of us consider to be winter comfort foods, aren’t always as healthy as we might assume.

Many comfort foods are high in simple carbohydrates, like white flour and sugar, instead of healthier complex carbohydrates, like whole wheat flour and vegetables.

Simple carbohydrates can reduce our serotonin levels and make us tired (and even depressed), which is quite the opposite of what a comfort food should do. In addition, many recipes include ingredients high in fat, cholesterol and sodium, so curbing those is only going to help your waistline and overall health.

With all this in mind, let’s look at how the comfort foods we love, can really be good for us.
Macaroni and Cheese, Lasagne and Other Pastas: Use whole wheat noodles, and replace any flour in the recipes with whole wheat flour. Add more vegetables and reduce the cheese and meat content.
Fried Chicken: Instead of frying, try baking your coated chicken, and don’t forget to use wheat flour and egg whites, instead of a whole egg.
Soups: Forego the canned varieties that are extremely high in cholesterol and make yours fresh, where possible. It’s not as complicated as you might think, and it tastes much better. When making your own soup, always skim the fat off your soup stock and use plenty of vegetables. If you don’t have time to make your own stock, choose the low-sodium, pre-made varieties.
Chili and Stew: Choose leaner cuts of meat. For example, a turkey chilli can be just as hearty and delicious as its ground beef counterpart. Of course, don’t forget to load up your chilli with vegetables. When making stew, always cut fat off the meat, before cooking, and use wheat flour for thickening your delicious meal. If serving bread, use whole wheat and reduce, or forego, the butter. A warm, whole wheat baguette dipped in homemade chilli or stew, just doesn’t need the extra-added fat and cholesterol.

Photo courtesy of Art of Catering/Selwyn Richards.

It doesn’t matter what your preferred comfort foods are, you can use these guidelines to prepare many of your favorite meals:
1. Whole wheat flour replaces white flour.
2. Olive oil replaces butter, margarine and other oils.
3. Egg whites replace whole eggs.
4. Skip the butter on bread and vegetables. Use seasoning instead.
5. Reduce sugar in recipes. Use ingredients like vanilla, cinnamon or other extracts to add sweet flavor.
6. Choose leaner cuts of meat and cut off any visible fats before cooking. You can also remove skin from chicken, or to retain juiciness, remove the skin, before eating.
7. Use skim milk instead of whole milk.
8. Reduce salt in recipes dramatically. Most recipes don’t actually need salt, excluding ones that include yeast for leavening.
9. Cook more meals instead of eating packaged ones.
10. When in doubt, add more vegetables.

Eating healthy doesn’t mean avoiding your favorite comfort foods, but it could mean adjusting things a little. Keep these tips in mind, when preparing your next meal, to stay healthy, happy and trim this winter.

Selwyn Richards is an award-winning master chef. He is also the President and Executive Chef at The Art of Catering Inc. and is the author of “The Art of Cooking: Soul of The Caribbean”. Chef Selwyn can be reached at: selwyn@theartofcatering.com or by phone — (905) 619-1059.