Brrr! This winter has been crazy with it’s ups and downs in temperature. The month of February has been particularly cold; we actually hit temperatures well into the negatives. (Remember Valentine’s Day weekend? It felt like -22 degrees at 8am!). So what do you cook when it’s THAT cold? Here are some easy and filling recipes to get you through the rest of this winter.
You can’t go wrong with soup. I love soup all year round, but it’s my go-to all winter. I love making a big pot on Sunday and eating it for lunch or dinner throughout the week. Here are two of my favorite soups.
Italian Orzo Spinach Soup is filling and delicious. It’s super easy to make and you can use almost any vegetables. (Side note: I learned with this soup that if you cook with orzo you need to have backup stock for when you warm it up. Orzo, like risotto, keeps “growing” and absorbing the liquid it is in.) You can also make it vegetarian by switching the chicken stock with vegetable stock.
My second new favorite soup is from a dear friend of mine. It’s a Kale and White Bean Soup. This soup is hearty and easy to make. The best part about it is the taste improves the more the flavors get to know each other. Another great reason to give this soup a try is it fits both vegan and gluten free lifestyles.
When I’m really in a jam, my easy go to BLD meal revolves around eggs. They are so versatile and full of protein. Unlike most other forms of protein, I almost always have eggs in my fridge. My favorite fast and easy way to eat eggs is runny over easy, but sometimes you need a little more than that. I’ve always loved a good frittata, but I’ve yet to perfect making one. Recently I’ve discovered the egg bake. It’s like a frittata but much more forgiving and easy to make. What I love best about egg bakes is you can literally put whatever you have available in it. This was my base recipe, but I added potatoes and substituted turkey for ham. Eggs are great to pack for lunches because they can be eaten room temperature if you’re short on time.
All of these recipes work well for #MeatlessMonday meals or those who abstain from meat on Fridays during Lent. However, none of these work for my carnivore husband, so when I need an easy meal and can’t barbecue, I turn to my friend the fajita. You can use any protein on hand (any kind of ground meat, rotisserie chicken, shrimp, you name it). My husband only likes carrots and celery in his fajita, but sometimes I sneak in onions. That’s another thing I love about all these recipes. They’re more like jumping off points. You use whatever you have handy.
Do you have an easy winter recipe to share?
