Transforming Summer Dishes into Winter Comfort Foods

In wintertime, when the temperatures have dropped, chances are you aren't up for taking a picnic outdoors or hosting a backyard barbecue. However, it doesn't mean you can't still enjoy some of your favorite summertime foods.

One of the staples of summertime picnics and barbecues is potato salad. This cool treat can be a great addition to a typical summertime menu. Potato salad doesn't have to be served cold though. You can find many recipes for warm potato salads in cookbooks or on the Internet. Alternatively you could roast cubed potatoes with other hardy vegetables such as onions and carrots in the oven until tender. For a quick and delicious marinade, sprinkle vegetables with olive oil, a bit of vinegar, grated Parmesan cheese, and a sprinkle or two of seasoning.

Boiled eggs are great picnic food. Deviled eggs are well known as a tasty appetizer for summer get togethers. Meanwhile chopped boiled eggs are great as toppers for salad. In the winter you can still use boiled eggs in your recipes. Boiled eggs can be used to make Chicken Bog (recipe can be found by clicking here), a delicious southern stew. Chopped boiled egg is a great addition to dressing for poultry. Mix some chopped boiled eggs in with cubed bread, crumbled sausage, celery, onions, and carrot and mix together. Pour some broth over dressing to moisten then stuff into your bird and bake.

Salads are healthy for you and great to eat in the summer time. Salads can also be eaten in the winter. To winterize your salad, use vegetables such as wilted spinach, sliced pan fried onions, julienned carrots, and toasted almonds can all come together for a yummy warm winter salad. Romaine lettuce isn't just great served in Caesar salad. Romaine lettuce makes a great wrapper for rice and meat. Serve washed and pulled apart romaine lettuce leaves with a bowl of hot cooked rice and some sliced soy marinaded beef or chicken. You can also add bean sprouts, slivered almonds, grated carrot, and other things to your lettuce wrap. Croutons that weren't used up for your summertime salad can be made into dressing or stuffing for your poultry. Add seasonings, vegetables, boiled eggs, crumbled sausage, or anything else you'd like and moisten with broth for a tasty accompaniment to your turkey or chicken.

Cold pasta salads make for great picnic fare. But pasta salads don't always have to be served cold. You can find many recipes on the Internet for warm pasta salads. You can toss freshly cooked pasta with a vinaigrette and freshly stir fried vegetables for a delicious warm pasta salad. Chopped ham makes another great addition to warm pasta salads. Vegetables like peas can be steamed and then added to the salad. Of course you can create other pasta dishes like spaghetti and meatballs or fettucine alfredo instead of pasta salad.

Here are few other dishes that can be transformed into winter meals. You can turn cole slaw into warm slaw for a nice winter side dish. You can find a link to a recipe for Warm Cabbage Slaw under the resources section of this article. Warm cabbage slaw can be made using red or green cabbage or both. Onions and carrots can be added to your warm slaw as well. Too cold to barbecue steaks? Grill them indoors with an electric plug in grill, a special grill pan, or under the broiler. Instead of serving root beer floats or milkshakes for dessert serve a scoop off ice cream in a mug with hot chocolate poured over it, topping with whipped cream if desired.

So bring a little summertime into your winter to help keep you warm. By making simple little changes to your summertime recipes you can turn them into wintertime comfort food.