Quick and Easy Comfort Food

What do we want? Comfort food! When do want it? Now! (Or at least sometime in the immediate future!)

We’ve all been there. Tired after a long day at the office, an exhausting work-out in the gym or drained by any number of life’s daily niggles and stresses, all we want is to wolf down a hearty and heart-warming meal and shut out the world until tomorrow. When the pressure gets too much, get out of the kitchen – but not before whipping up one of these easy and delicious comfort food recipes.

Macaroni cheese

Who didn’t love macaroni cheese when they were a kid? Harken back to when times were simpler with this great staple of the comfort food canon by adding a unique twist to your traditional mac’n’cheese. This delicious take on the old classic adds sliced green onions, crisp smoky bacon and a dash of hot sauce to a rich cheese sauce, but still manages to rein in the calorific intake to under 400 for those perennially watching the bathroom scales. Nostalgia never tasted so good.

Go Canadian, eh

Everyone loves crispy French fries, right? Those Canadians certainly do, that’s for sure – so much so that they’ve incorporated the potato snack into their national dish. It’s called poutine and combines the fluffiness of fried potatoes with the creaminess of cheese curds and the delicious flavour of gravy. To make your own homemade variety, simply get hold of a bag of oven chips from McCain, raid the international isle of your local supermarket for cheese curds and whip up a batch of gravy (Oxo do a great hassle-free variety) and voila! You’ll be chowing down on some exotic comfort food in no time.

The mighty cheese toastie

There’s nothing quite a like a cheese toastie for making you feel all warm and fuzzy (and full of carbs) inside – it’s the culinary equivalent of a great big hug and a sloppy cheddar kiss. The beauty of this tasty snack is that it has innumerable opportunities for variety and an almost 100%-guaranteed success rate; as long as you make sure it’s crunchy on the outside and gooey on the inside (and doesn’t fall apart in your hands), you’re onto a winner. Try adding ham, tomato, pickle, Worcestershire Sauce or even Marmite into the mix to spice things up a bit – or take a leaf out of our friends from over the pond’s book and check out this mouth-watering interpretation of the ‘grilled cheese’.

Stir-fry in seconds

Thought packaged noodles were only the stuff of your student days? Think again. 3-minute noodles can provide the backbone of many a fast and flavoursome recipe, especially if you’re prepared to think outside the box. Consider combining them with egg, shallot, garlic, ginger, carrot, peppers and any other vegetables your little heart desires, and seasoning the whole glorious concoction with a liberal sprinkling of fish sauce, soy and tabasco. Ready to eat in under 10 minutes and guaranteed to have your stomach making appreciative grumbles in response.

Here are some easy stir fry recipes you can try:

Malaysian Sambal Prawns with Asparagus

Hong Kong Fried Noodles

Thai Style Turkey Lettuce Wraps