Adult life is tiring. We go to work, go to social gatherings, maintain relationships, we lose some, and we gain some. That’s stressful. And for many of us, when met with unpleasant situations and feelings, we turn to food. And of course, there’s always that food we keep going back to, the kind of food that reminds us of our younger, carefree days. That is comfort food or soul food. A meal or snack that brings us back to a place of comfort or sentimental value, something that eases our weary being.
It’s not exactly healthy, because comfort food usually consists of high carbohydrates and high sugar. Perhaps that’s why we don’t always eat it. Especially if you have dental braces or Invisalign clear aligners, it can be quite bothersome to keep snacking. But what the heck, right? When we need it, we can’t help it. What matters is we exercise moderation to keep healthy so just treat it like a cheat day meal. And that it’s easy to make.
Here are some of them:
Supersized Cup Noodles
Everyone has eaten cup noodles at some point in their life, be it out of convenience or lack of money. Many people have even come to enjoy its taste, despite being often touted as food for broke college students. However, by adding simple ingredients you can make it taste better. Start by adding raw eggs immediately as you put hot water. Chopped onions add a little bit of a kick, and mushroom can add some weight to it. Hell, if you have leftover chicken, you can throw it on there to make everything feel more substantial.
Home Style Burrito
Who doesn’t like a burrito? Delicious meats, a mix of dressings, a spattering of vegetables, and everything rolled into a tortilla. While you can always order a burrito, nothing beats the flavor of something you made your own. Luckily, a home-style burrito is relatively easy and the best part is you can use leftovers! Start by gathering any available cooked meat in your fridge.
Follow it up by roasting some vegetables (or frying, if you prefer), like bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, or even cabbages. Drop everything in tortilla bread, layer your favorite dressing, and voila! An easy and delicious home-style burrito, perfect for eating while watching your favorite show.
Everything Omelette
Omelets are one of the easiest meals to make, and many of us even learned it as our first dish. It goes without saying that a large population finds omelets cozy and nostalgic- memories of eating morning omelets during younger days. Well, you can replicate that and make the taste even better! Everything omelet is basically whatever’s available in your fridge- and we swear, everything goes well with omelets (within reason of course). Fry up some veggies like bell peppers, onion, and garlic, and mix it. You can even throw fried hotdogs or bacon chunks in there. Everything omelet is whatever you make it to be.
Pizza Rolls
Eating pizza is normally associated with fun times, lazy dinners, and a generally relaxed feeling. That’s why many count pizza as one of the all-time greats of comfort food. Well, you can kick that up a notch by making your own pizza or pizza rolls. Start by roasting or frying your meat toppings like pepperoni, bacon, or sausages. Lather up your bread (be it plain white bread or tortilla, if you’re feeling extra fancy) with tomato sauce, put your meats, veggies, or any toppings you like, and roll it. At this point, all you need to do is to heat it in the oven or microwave. That’s easy pizza rolls, great for impromptu relaxing afternoons.
Fried Onions and Potatoes
Here’s a different one for you: fried onions and potatoes. It’s one of the easiest comfort food to make, and many families like to cook this for snacks. Start by peeling the potatoes and slice them as thin as you prefer. Slice some white onions as well. On a pan with hot oil, cook the onions first to let them caramelize a bit, and then add the potatoes.
Just let it fry for a few minutes under low heat, and then season with salt and pepper. It’s a very simple dish but tastes really delicious. Plus onions and potatoes are ingredients found in everyone’s home anyway, making them very convenient comfort food.
While there are many comfort foods that are quite complicated to make, there are also a lot of choices when it comes to quick and easy soul food meals.
