Cold winter mornings demand warm breakfasts like porridge and warmed overnight oats. I started my day with porridge that was most definitely purple with frozen berries thrown in for a bit of tang and colour. Already one portion of fruit before the day really got started.

Winter cries out for comfort food and here is my definition of perfect cold weather comfort food?

• It’s warming. It’s a hug in a mug or a bowl.
• You can eat it with one hand – all you need is a fork or spoon so you can feel the warmth of the bowl with the other hand. A meal for a cold night wrapped in a blanket on the sofa.
• It has a memory associated with it – for me it is often a dish that reminds me of someone or somewhere or a memory (often that involved weather or adventure – getting cold, wet and tired then revived by something comforting)

A good example of a comforting meal is mince ‘n’ tatties. Being a Scottish lass, all be it raised in London and actually born in Ireland, this is the stuff of childhood.

Mince in gravy with carrots, onions and possibly peas served with mashed tatties (potatoes) is something homely. It reminds me of my Grandma’s Edinburgh kitchen. It is something that we often eat when I am at home with my parents.

Every household makes it their own way. There is a division of whether it is a meal to be served on a plate or in a bowl. For me there is no contest – it has to be in a bowl! With the mince dribbling down over the mash and everything staying nice and hot.

To make it even cheaper and go further then a can of brown lentils is a great addition although might be considered by some as taking it away from the authentic dish. In fact, if you want to skip the meat altogether then the beef could be substituted entirely – more French in style perhaps but certainly as comforting and delicious.

And if you have enough leftovers then a shepherd’s pie is calling for another evening. Batch cooking at it’s best.

Comfort food is glorious even though we sometimes frown on comfort “eating”. Understanding that satisfaction is not only about answering that physiological hunger we associate with rumbling tummies. Mindful eating is understanding what kind of hunger you are feeling and how we can satisfy more than our stomachs. To desire comfort from your food is not wrong. Being aware of the satisfaction that a meal brings you both from a sense of fueling you and soothing emotions is a good thing.

Image from Make It Scotch