Guiltless Comfort Food

Colder temperatures and darker days personally leave me craving something warm and comforting that isn't going to give that heavy feeling after.

​If you're in the same boat, I have the perfect, guiltless and simple, recipe for you! 

Ingredients

Grilled Cheese (serves 3)

• 1 package Portabella Mushrooms
• 6 Slices of Dave's Killer Bread, or any whole grain bread
• 1.5 oz. cheese (visual: ~3 dies)
• Olive Oil
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Salt & Pepper (to taste)

Winter Squash Soup (serves 6)

• 5 lage Carrots
• 1 Butternut Squash
• 1/2 Onion
• 4-5 Cloves Garlic
• Fresh Ginger (to taste)
• 32 ounces of Unsalted Vegetable Stock (1 carton)
• Plain Greek Yogurt, 1 cup
• Salt & Pepper (to taste)

Directions

If you've followed or tried any of my recipes before, you know I'm a pretty simple gal and need things to be straight forward, fairly quick to make, and tasty to eat. Luckily, this recipe met all of those criteria! ​

1. Peel your carrots, dice into equal chunks and set aside.
2. Dice your onions and press your garlic into a large pot with about 2 tbsp. of olive oil. Let that sautee for 1 minute, then add carrots and a bit of stock and let simmer for ~5 minutes. (The carrots will take longer to cook than the butternut squash).
3. While your carrots and what not are taking their bath, peel your squash, cut in half, scoop out the seeds, and then dice into equal cubes. Finally, grate the ginger and then add all of this to the pot with the remainder of the vegetable stock and let simmer for ~30 minutes, or until everything feels soft.​ 
4. Take the soup off the heat and get out a smart stick hand blender (see picture below), if you don't have one of these a) I would definitely request one for Christmas if you like to cook, and b) you can use a blender or smash them up by hand if desperate. And by hand I mean some sort of mashing utensil, don't use your hand and blame me for your 3rd degree burns, thanks. 
   
5. When the soup is about half way blended, add the cup of plain greek yogurt and finish blending till relatively smooth. Soup, done!

Grilled Cheese:

1. Set a skillet on medium heat with olive oil and 1 clove of pressed garlic, let this heat for a minute and then add portabellas, sprinkle them with more olive oil and the balsamic, and cover with a lid for about 3 minutes.
2. Flip the mushrooms and add salt and pepper, then allow to cook for 1 more minute. 
3. Assemble grilled cheeses in same skillet and cook evenly on both sides until cheese is melted and bread is browed. Enjoy!

The soup mixing master. Disclaimer: I have no stake in the promotion of this hand mixer.

Nutrition Information 

Grilled [Portabello Mushroom] Cheese (serving size: 1 sandwich)
​350 kcal
10 g fat
550 mg sodium
11 g fiber 
20 g protein 

Dietitian Tip
Dave's Killer bread has a good content of protein and fiber, but someone could also make this sandwich on "regular" whole wheat bread and save 260 calorie! SaraLee for example has a multi-grain bread that has 90 kcal for 2 slices.

Winter Squash Soup: (6 servings)
125 kcal
0 g fat
235 mg sodium
4 g fiber
6 g protein

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