Eleven Healthy Comforts & One Cookie

Dinners to keep us clearheaded and feeling our best

Happy Friday and happy (…?) election countdown. I trust that if you live here in the US and haven’t voted already, that you’ve got a plan in place. And I hope you’re using whatever resources you’ve got to help encourage a robust turnout next week.

Given this frenzied stretch ahead, I thought it might be a good time to pull together some of my favorite healthy comfort meals. Easy, quick ones that, for me, can fortify my busiest days but also soothe, and help bring some focus. I hope they do the same for you. —Lukas

1. One-Pan Pasta & Beans with Asparagus: Replace the fresh asparagus with another quick-cooking fresh or frozen vegetable, such as diced zucchini, peas, or corn (or even frozen asparagus; in all cases adjust or extend the cooking time as needed). Or stir in a few handfuls of fresh greens like spinach or Swiss chard.

2. Bean & Celery Soup (Fasuoli cu l’accia): This astonishingly simple soup comes from Rosetta Costantino’s website. The name is pretty much the complete ingredient list.

3. Miso-Butter Spaghetti with Kale: I love this full-flavored and nutritious pasta dish, which gets a generous sprinkling of Seedy Nori Crumble at the end for texture and seasoning. If you have Hemp Heart Za’atar on hand, that’d work, too.

4. Cheesy Cabbage & White Bean Soup: A super easy favorite from my book Start Simple, this is one of those hands-off recipes that showcases the humble cabbage’s considerable range.

5. Pressed Broccoli Rabe & Cheese: I find few things as centering as standing over the stove and attentively making myself a grilled cheese sandwich. This one has big handful of wilted broccoli rabe in it, which takes a little edge off the rich cheese.

6. Simple Swiss Chard Soup: If you’d like to feel nourished and revitalized by something bold and green, this is the soup. It’s quick, but has impressively sophisticated flavor.

7. Eggplant Orzo with Tomatoes & Pesto: Spoonfuls of slippery, tender orzo are so delicious and comforting to me. Grocery store cherry tomatoes will work perfectly fine, as will whatever pesto you can get your hands on.

8. French Onion Baked Beans: Another deeper cut from my old blog, this recipe takes a pot of beans and gives it the French Onion Soup treatment, making everyone in the house very hungry in the process.

9. Tomato Tofu: Either canned or fresh tomatoes can be used in this Vietnamese-inspired recipe, making it a very pantry friendly dinner. Make sure to serve it with a big, steaming scoop of freshly cooked rice.

10. Chipotle Pinto Bean Stew: I shared this recipe just last week, but I must include it again today — and add that Erin Alderson’s flavor-packed 30-minute stew would be easy to double if you’re feeding a crowd while phone banking.

11. Kabocha Soup with Black-Eyed Peas & Broccoli Rabe: As it breaks down in this chowdery soup, the kabocha squash adds a silky, rich texture to the broth. And the balance of sweet, bitter, and earthy flavors is energizing and unforgettable.

{Bonus} Chocolate Chip Cookies with Rosemary & Hazelnuts: Yes, you do need a cookie. These gluten-free ones require no creaming of butter and are a go-to of mine. Other cookies I’ve recently loved include

Jordan Smith

’s brilliantly seasonal Apple Butter Cookies, and

Brian Levy

’s Best Ever Chocolate Chunk Cookies.