The best Comfort Food for winter months

Let's talk about vegan comfort food! Those hearty, chunky soups, pasta dishes, burgers. During the winter months, there's nothing better than a warming dish to warm your soul!

The weather in the UK has been very temperamental. We've had some snowfall already mid-January, and I can't believe I didn't take pictures of those days with my camera! But for some reason, I didn't feel like photographing, I was more keen to soak it in and enjoy a different scenery and activity. Since the Coronavirus intensified in March 2020, I have been working from home. My motivation some days is close to zero, and knowing it might snow some days is the only thing I have to look forward to these days. So when it happens, I fully immerse myself in the much-needed routine change. Almost one year on, and I am still working from home and only leave the house for essentials shopping or one small walk each day in my local area.

I have also been shopping in the middle of the night to avoid anxiety flare-ups and I think that going to the supermarket at 4 or 5am gives me a peace of mind I can't explain. There's no one to rush me, no queues, no people deliberately not respecting social distancing, and so on.

But by far, the biggest thing keeping me sane lately were those 3 days of snow we've had in January. It almost felt like a soul cleanse to be able to experience 3 days so different from my usual 24 hours every day. And because the weather has been so cold, most days after my walks I come home and I am freezing and craving warm, comfort foods.

On one of those days, I decided to make some stewed beans in tomato sauce with herbs and grilled tortillas!

This is the perfect comfort food when you're craving some. Also, I don't know about you, but I do not like my food cold, at all. Soups have to be boiling hot, and everything that needs to be cooked has to be served piping-hot, especially during winter. I hate cold food. Unless it's a salad, I always have my food really hot!

I created this recipe in my head first, because I was seriously craving some beans and tomato sauce. So I started by sautéing some onions, red chillies, garlic and a little bit of red wine. I then added some spices and tomato paste and finally the beans. This is a quick and easy meal for when you are on the run and you don't have too much time.

You can have these with a side salad or some greens. I wanted to make some garlic spinach to go with these but I was out of fresh veggies and didn't want to use frozen spinach for this recipe.

What is your favourite go-to comfort dish? Let me know in the comments.

Simply,

Mariana