Comfort Food Made Better

By Jessica Remitz for Discover and Play

Fortunately, its now easier than ever to make (and eat!) those comfort food-style meals you crave without busting your healthy eating plan. We’ve asked Sarah Baker, a holistic health coach and founder of Balanced Babe to share some nutritious and delicious alternatives to some of your favorite appetizers, entrees and desserts.

In addition to these recipes, Baker also offers the following tips for making nearly any holiday or cold-weather meal healthier:

• Substitute Greek yogurt for sour cream. You won’t notice a difference in taste, Baker says, and you’ll benefit from the probiotics that help promote digestion.
• Instead of butter, use olive oil. Olive oil is a healthier form of fat than butter and contains vitamin E, which promotes healthy skin and is known to lower cholesterol, she said.
• Mash cauliflower instead of potatoes. Serving mashed cauliflower at potlucks or holiday parties will help cut calories and provide you and your guests with an excellent source of vitamin K, which is known for its anti-inflammatory properties.
• Use lentils instead of meat. Lentils will keep you fuller longer than meat and is packed with fiber that can aid in digestion. See the “meat” ball recipe, below, for a great way to use lentils in cooking.

Vegetarian Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients:

• Package of button mushrooms
• ¼ cup Greek yogurt
• 1 oz feta cheese
• A pinch of mint, basil, turmeric, cumin, oregano, parsley, basil and garlic powder
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Pink Himalayan salt and pepper for seasoning

Directions

• Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees.
• Pop the stems out of the bottom mushrooms and fill the mushrooms with bits of feta cheese.
• Sprinkle the mushrooms with olive oil, mint, turmeric, cumin, and basil.
• Grease a baking dish and place the mushrooms with their fillings inside the dish.
• Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until mushrooms are a bit crispy.
• In a mixing bowl, scoop our ¼ cup of Greek yogurt. Blend in more mint seasoning, tsp of olive oil, cumin, turmeric and some garlic powder.
• Spread the Greek yogurt mixture on a serving dish
• Once mushrooms are cooked, placed the mushrooms on top of the yogurt spread and serve.

Mushroom “Meat” Balls

Ingredients:

• 2 packages of crimini mushrooms
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 white onion
• ¼ cup nutritional yeast
• ¼ cup almond meal
• 1 cup lentils
• 1½ cup quinoa
• 1½ tsp Worcester sauce
• ¼ cup flaxseed
• A pinch of: sage, oregano, basil, rosemary, thyme, mince, cayenne

Directions:

• Pre-cook the quinoa and lentils and p re-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Chop the mushrooms, onions, and garlic.
• Place the mushrooms, onion, garlic, quinoa, and lentils in a high speed food processor (or blender etc).
• Add in all of the seasonings, almond meal, flax-seed, nutritional yeast, Worcester sauce, and some red wine (optional) in the processor, and continue blending. You do not need to blend until everything is smooth, the mixture can be slightly choppy, so that it will have a nice texture when consume.
• Take a handful of the mixture and roll it into a ball. Continue forming balls with the rest of the mixture.
• Place the balls on a coated cooking sheet, and bake in the oven for about 15 minutes.
• After 15 minutes, the outside of the ball should be darkened and slightly crispy, while the inside should still be moist.
• If you want it to be a tad bit more “crispy,” you can bake for an extra 10 minutes.

Vegan Peppermint Squares

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups soaked cashews
• 1 can coconut cream
• ¼ cups nut milk (hazelnut or almond)
• 1 tsp peppermint extract
• ¼ banana
• 1 bag vegan chocolate chips
• Coconut oil spray

Directions:

• Soak the cashews in a bowl overnight, drain and rinse well.
• In a blender; blend the cashews, coconut cream, nut milk, peppermint extract and banana until smooth and creamy.
• Line a baking tray with saran wrap and spray with the coconut oil spray so the mixture does not stick to the bottom of the tray.
• Level out the filling mixture onto the baking tray, and then place in a freezer for 30-40 minutes until the mixture is frozen.
• When there is about 3 minutes left of freezer time, heat the chocolate chips in a sauce pan until melted.
• Take the filling out of the freezer, and pour the melted chocolate over the mixture and make sure all edges of the mixture are covered.
• Place the baking tray back into the freezer for about 5-7 more minutes. Once the chocolate is hardened, but not frozen, cut the patties into sections, and serve immediately.

Jessica Remitz is
a freelance writer and web producer living in Brooklyn. Her work has
been featured in a variety of health and lifestyle websites including
Spafinder, FitPregnancy and Everyday Health. To see additional writing
samples and learn more about Jessica’s work, visit her website.