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Natural Comfort Kitchen

Happy. Healthy. Homemade.

Quick and Easy Dinners

My best quick and easy recipes when you need to get dinner on the table fast. Most are healthy, too!

How to Roast Garlic

Welcome to lesson 7 of the homemade how-to series: how to roast garlic. In each lesson, I break down the steps for a home cooking skill I searched for often as I first learned to cook, or one that’s always been on my to-learn list. A recipe to showcase your new skill will follow a couple days after the how-to post!

Chances are, you searched for this tutorial in a pinch, so let’s dive right in! Click here to jump down and read more about roasted garlic and some ideas for how to use it.

Roasted garlic is a flavor powerhouse that you can add to SO many different dishes!

How to roast garlic

Ingredients

  • One or more garlic bulbs
  • Olive oil

Tools

  • Sharp knife
  • Foil
  • Baking sheet (any size, but these mini ones work great)

How to roast garlic (and a bunch of clever ways to use it!)

Step 1: Remove extra peels

Preheat oven to 400 (F). Peel any loose, excess layers from the garlic, leaving only the peel that isn’t easily removed.

How to roast garlic (and a bunch of clever ways to use it!)
[Read more…]

Potato Salad with Hard Boiled Egg Dressing

Creamy, cool potato salad with mayo free (and dairy free!) dressing. Great for picnics!

If forced to choose between classic, creamy American potato salad and the usually lighter German potato salad, I’ll always go with American. There’s something about creamy mayo dressing mixed with starchy carbs that I cannot resist, despite my strong German heritage. It’s the quintessential portable picnic/potluck side dish, refreshing and satisfying when the grill is raging and the humidity outside is 107%.

Creamy, cool potato salad with mayo free (and dairy free!) dressing. Great for picnics!

My impression of mayo-free potato salads is that you’re getting a warm salad with a nice acidic vinaigrette. Nothing wrong with that, either, but it’s for another time and place. It wasn’t until the making of this potato salad recipe that I discovered I can have the best of both worlds [Read more…]

Puppy Chow I: Butterscotch Sprinkles

Although Clarence would argue to the contrary, we are not making dog treats today. This sweet puppy chow, one of two versions I remember from childhood, is for human consumption only, filled with butterscotch flavor, creamy peanut butter, and a handful of milk chocolate chips. Not a very dog friendly list. Maybe next time puggy…except probably not.

Peanut butter, chocolate, and butterscotch coated

Puppy chow and puppy

Some quick research and a small survey of one (my Connecticut-raised husband), confirmed that puppy chow, sometimes known as muddy buddies–the sweet snack/dessert–isn’t hugely popular or well-known in many parts of the country. Basically, it’s gluten free (something we cared nothing about while snacking on it at sleepovers) cereal coated in some kind of melted chocolate peanut butter mixture and perhaps tossed in powdered sugar. [Read more…]

Italian Kale Salad with Roasted Veggies

If it wasn’t for unseasonably cold weather, this hearty Italian kale salad with big chunks of warm roasted veggies might never have come to pass.

An awesome kale salad for year round, but ESPECIALLY for a chilly winter-to-spring transition! Big chunks of warm, oven roasted veggies, simply dressed balsamic kale, and a healthy handful of creamy parmesan.

It’s the first season of deck weather in our new house, so of course my husband and visiting brother-in-law were all too happy to go to Home Depot and pick out a brand spankin’ new grill a while back. Steve and I didn’t have one for the last two years given the lack of outdoor space at our condo, so we have major catching up to do. If I can figure out/conquer my fear of how to use it, you can bet you’re going to see loads of grilled pizza, grilled corn (the stuff slathered in Mexican condiments), and grilled veggie kebab recipes all summer long.
[Read more…]

Gnocchi and Cheese Baked Potatoes

In homemade how-to number 6, I showed you how to cook fluffy, foolproof baked potatoes that can even be made ahead. Gnocchi and cheese baked potatoes are a decadent dinner with a lightened up cheese sauce to put your new skill to work!

Potato gnocchi AND cheesy baked potatoes??? Yes please. Lightened up cheese sauce offsets all the carbs in this meatless weeknight main dish.

It’s potato madness: baked potatoes and potato gnocchi meet in a ridiculous, over-the-top, must-try comfort food dinner. Let’s just say this would be a good one to reserve for after a big athletic event. Or when you’re stuck inside and in sweatpants on a rainy day. Or…tomorrow night. If you need a redeeming factor for all that cheese, the recipe boasts a significant pile of broccoli for color, health, and the happiness of broccoli lovers like me. Broccoli and cheese: always better together. Always betters with carbs.

While this meatless main dish or somewhat obnoxious side dish is a bit decadent, the cheese sauce isn’t the worst splurge. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it “skinny” or “healthy”, but “lighter” might be a fair interpretation. [Read more…]

How to Cook Baked Potatoes

Welcome to lesson 6 of the homemade how-to series: how to cook baked potatoes. In each lesson, I break down the steps for a home cooking skill I searched for often as I first learned to cook, or one that’s always been on my to-learn list. A recipe to showcase your new skill will follow a couple days after the how-to post!

Chances are, you searched for this tutorial in a pinch, so let’s dive right in! Click here to jump down and read more about perfect baked potatoes and some ideas for how to use them.

Perfect baked potatoes CAN be foolproof! It doesn't take anything revolutionary, just a few simple tips and tricks.

How to bake potatoes

Ingredients

  • Russet potatoes, medium to large (about 8 to 12 oz. each)
  • Kosher salt (optional)
  • Vegetable oil or melted butter (optional)
  • Your favorite toppings!

Tools

Essential baked potato ingredients and tools are shown first, and all the optional supplies are pictured second.

Baked potato ingredient and tools
Optional baked potato supplies

Step 1: Prep the potatoes

Preheat oven to 425 (F) with rack in middle position. Scrub the potatoes in cold water and pat dry. Poke firmly with a fork in about 6 places per potato.

[Read more…]

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