comfort food

I love the concept of comfort food.
Comfort food is completely tailored to each individual, and has everything to do with how and where they grew up.
It can range from french fries to fried chicken, from potato soup to mac and cheese.
Or if you're fancy, maybe it's shrimp or lobster or steak.
For me, my comfort food is Top Ramen. I know, go ahead and groan, go ahead and talk about the high levels of sodium and the potentially indigestible properties of the pre-packaged pasta delights. I don't care.
I was in a car crash last night, and the first thing I did was go home and curl up on the couch and eat a bowl of chicken Top Ramen with Tabasco sauce. (It's okay, you can groan again). Then I fell asleep to re-runs of How I Met Your Mother, because I was so comforted.

When you're functioning on leftovers and cheap foods, it's amazing the kind of cheap and easy throw-together meals you can create. Like crackers and spray-cheese, they get the job done.

Like
Cabbage Salad:

Why it's comforting: soy sauce and vinegar, and the delightful crunch.


For non-cabbage lovers, this will be a no-go. Because if you haven't noticed, it's a salad made completely of raw cabbage.
(Although I think this may be very tasty eaten hot, with fried or steamed cabbage, as well).


Ingredients:
Cabbage
Carrots
Mango
Lime
Soy Sauce
Red Wine Vinegar
Pepper

Directions: 
Chop up everything until your bowl is full, and sprinkle with lime, soy sauce and red wine vinegar.
Dash with fresh ground black pepper.
Voila!

This satisfied all of my cravings, while being extremely low calorie, which is very odd for "comfort food". It had the salty sourness of soy sauce and lime, as well as the delightful sweetness of mango and the pleasant crunch of cabbage and carrots. The perfect raw salad.


You could also go for the
Tilapia Sloppy Joe


Now don't gross out on me. I promise, it was good. I had two of them, they were so yummy!
My pictures are on my laptop at home, so maybe I'll add those later. But just trust me on this.


My original plan was to make tilapia patties, because I was craving a burger/fish taco. Sometimes cravings get mixed up in transit.
But I didn't have any eggs, so I knew it would be difficult to make a patty mix that would stay together. So I improvised.


Ingredients:
2 tilapia filets
1/2 fresh chopped tomato
Bread crumbs/crushed potato chips (I'm so creative/unhealthy)
Olive Oil
Garlic Salt
Fresh ground pepper
Crushed Red Pepper flakes
Chili Powder
Whole wheat hamburger/sandwich buns (I'm back in the healthy zone)

Directions:
Finely chop your tilapia filets (this might be easier if you cook them a little bit in the skillet first). Toss together with your chopped tomatoes, bread crumbs and a little bit of oil.
Sprinkle as desired with garlic salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and chili powder. (For me, the spicier the better!).
Throw into your skillet with some more olive oil, and fry them until thoroughly cooked. Scoop the mixture onto the bun, add ketchup, and consume.

The result is a crumbly, deliciously comforting "Sloppy Tilapi". I don't regret it, no matter what people may say.

These are my musings for the day. Sometimes, comfort food is what ya need for dinner.
Be creative, but don't feel bad if Top Ramen is on tonight's menu. Oh, and Taco Bell. Don't let anyone judge you for Taco Bell.

In love,
Cait