Looking for a Warm Comfort-Food Meal? Easy Recipes for Chilly Nights

Lecho

I first encountered lecho in Hungary when my daughter was studying abroad. Her director invited us to her home in Budapest and made this easy, delicious dish. Helping to prepare it was as pleasurable as eating it. And I never worry about botching up this recipe; it's no-fail. 

Olive oil

1 Onion

2 to 3 pounds of tomatoes

A produce bag filled with peppers, mixed varieties  (or using all red bell peppers, for example, is also fine)

Salt and pepper optional (I always go easy for fear of overdoing it.)

• Saute a chopped onion in a puddle of olive oil in a large pot.
• Chop 2 to 3 pounds of tomatoes.
• Cut the peppers in thin spiral strips, the way you might peel an apple, except thinner. If the strips don't break you can cut them to around 2 inches long.
• Add the tomatoes and peppers to the onions.
• Cover and simmer until the veggies are very soft and the whole thing looks a soupy but dense with the vegetables, around 45 minutes or so.
• Serve with wedges of rustic bread, such as tuscan pane or sourdough.

Sausage

Some recipes call for chorizo or sausage in the lecho. I like to serve sweet Italian turkey sausage on the side. Alternatively, you can cut the sausage into coins and brown on each side and serve on the side or as an appetizer. Or see my article 7 Easy, Crowd-Pleasing Appetizers to make Nigella Lawson's sherry-glazed chorizo coins.

• All we do is brown the whole sausages in the fry pan, allowing one per person.

Salad

Here's a favorite salad of mine. I often have this as a late afternoon snack and it fills me into the dinner hour. If you prefer, you can substitute goat cheese or any other cheese or just omit cheese altogether.

Lettuce (I use butter or red leaf lettuce but any lettuce or greens, such as spinach, are fine.)

Apple sliced thin, then cut into bite-size pieces (You can substitute pear or dried cranberries)

Blue Cheese

Caramelized Pecans (see recipe below)

• Toss all the ingredients together and add dressing.

Salad Dressing

2 ounces of olive oil for every 1 ounce of red wine vinegar

Onion powder to taste (optional)

A dab of Dijon mustard (start minimally and adjust to taste)

Pepper and salt to taste (I use a fair amount of ordinary pepper—not ground—and little or no salt)

• Combine all ingredients in a shaker or wisk ingredients.
• Toss dressing with salad immediately before serving.

Caramelized Pecans

I always make plenty more of what we call "sweetie nuts" than I plan to use. These nuts are delicious in salads as well as on their own. You can wrap some in cellophane and tie with a bow to give as a sweet gift. To store, I wrap them in foil and place in a container. Fear not the messy pot; soak it for a short while in warm water and all the stuck-on sugar melts away.

• Coat the bottom of a frying pan with sugar. (I use raw turbinado sugar, which I buy at Whole Foods, but this works just as well with regular white sugar.)
• Stir in a generous amount of unsalted pecans (You can use whole or pieces. I use whole ones, which I break randomly with my hands as I add them; several remain whole.)
• Stir continuously until the sugar melts and coats the pecans.
• Spread the nuts on a sheet of foil. Do the best you can; they tend to clump together.
• After they cool and harden, you can break them apart. (Note, they are hard on the teeth.)

Dessert

Mohn or Poppyseed Cookies taste buttery and delicious, but use heart-friendly canola oil rather than butter. See the recipe in my article A Magical Used Cookbook Shop & a Divine Cookie Recipe. Serve with vanilla and/or other ice cream or sorbet.

What are some of your favorite comfort foods?

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