With a new season comes new cooking inspiration and the return of some old favorites.
Spiced Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Putting a batch of cookies in the freezer is one of the best things you can do for yourself. It took me 26 years to learn this, but now that I know, I’m not wasting another second of this life without cookies stashed in the freezer. These ones ooze fall flavor, and chocolate chunks — are you kidding me?! So much better than chocolate chips! I just take one out of the freezer at dinner time and by dessert time, they are perfectly soft.
Kinda forgot how much we used to make/love this quick curry recipe. Do yourself a favor and use full fat coconut milk because that creaminess is so worth the extra fat/calories. This time around, I didn’t even mix in the water/cornstarch because I didn’t really want the sauce to thicken up and I’m doing that every time from now on.
Roasted Vegetables with Nutritional Yeast
Joey and I might be the unofficial spokespeople of nutritional yeast. I know it sounds (and looks and smells) weird, but GAH, IT IS SO DELICIOUS. For this recipe, you roast some squash (or broccoli, but I prefer the squash) then toss it in nutritional yeast and prepare your tastebuds for pure delight.
We made this a handful of times last fall/winter and we love it so much! The recipe calls for meatless sausage but that sounds ew so we just leave it out and it is so so good. Eat a bowl + a jalapeño cheddar corn muffin for the most perfect winter dinner.
I’m on something like my fourth batch of this granola and I eat it EVERY SINGLE MORNING. It’s on the softer side, so if you’re looking for big crunchy clusters, this isn’t it, but if you’re looking for fall spices and that perfect blend of oats and nuts, HERE YOU GO! Also, you mix chopped dates into the mixture after it’s done baking and I kinda never want to eat granola without dates ever again.
Never thought I would wax poetic about meatloaf until I tasted this one. If tender is a word you can use to describe meatloaf, that’s exactly what this tastes like. Sautéing the onion and garlic before mixing it into the meat and adding a delicious glaze on top are serious game-changers. Jeff Mauro, I love you for this recipe.
P.S. I use half beef, half pork and nix the veal, I use panko instead of Saltines and have left the sriracha out of the glaze when I made the horrible mistake of leaving the bottle at work. It still turned out perfectly.
I turned down an invitation to get a manicure with my sister for this chicken curry. And it was so luxurious, decadent and flavorful that I almost cried upon first tasting it. You know when you eat something and with every bite, you feel like yelling “HOW’S THIS SO GOOD??” This is that meal but with the added bonus of having MADE IT YOURSELF.
Alright, I’m not sure a kale salad fits in the winter comfort food category, but this one has lots of cheese, sauce and roasted sweet potatoes so it’s about as comforting as a salad can get. Plus I just gave you a list of sweets, stews and meatloaf, so our palate could probably use a salad, right? I ate this every day for lunch last week and would do a little salad happiness dance while eating it. It’s that good.
Happy Winter Eating!
Life as Lauren 
Excuse me while I save ALL of these to my meal plan. Also: you are the one who introduced me to nutritional yeast and now Jordan and I are obsessed! My favorite thing is to sprinkle it on stove-popped popcorn along with truffle oil. I should probably remember to cook with it more, to be quite honest. Thanks, as always, for the food-spiration.
If all else fails, eat it by the spoonful like Joey does 🙂 But seriously, it makes me so happy to have turned someone onto my favorite yellow powdery substance, ha!
Wow, they all look so tasty! Especially the cookie at the start. I’ll be saving all of these to try for myself, yum!!
Glad to hear it!