Kristin Cavallari - True Comfort

Copyright 2020 by Kristin Cavallari

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Rodale Books, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.

rodalebooks.com

RODALE and the Plant colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Cavallari, Kristin, 1987-author.

Title: True comfort / Kristin Cavallari.

Description: First edition. | New York : Rodale, 2020. | Includes index. | Identifiers: LCCN 2019046137 (print) | LCCN 2019046138 (ebook) | ISBN 9781984826282 | ISBN 9781984826299 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Comfort food. | Cooking, American. | LCGFT: Cookbooks

Classification: LCC TX740 .C39 2020 (print) | LCC TX740 (ebook) | DDC 641.3dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019046137

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019046138

ISBN9781984826282

Ebook ISBN9781984826299

Target ISBN9780593232484

Cover design by Mia Johnson

Photographs by Aubrie Pick

rhid_prh_5.5.0_c0_r0

Contents

Introduction

Comfort food has always played a crucial role in my life. I grew up in an Italian family, eating casseroles, pasta, and a ton of sweets. But unfortunately, both white flour and cows milk leave me feeling irritable and lethargic. I became aware of my food sensitivities in my early twenties, and since then Ive been on a mission to make delicious food using good-for-you ingredientsnutrient-rich ingredients that still fluff up and thicken, that are creamy and comforting, that just taste great while fueling your body, giving it the natural energy it needs. Quite simply, I learned how to make healthier swaps for the ingredients I had grown up eating.

These swaps are as simple as using gluten-free oat flour in place of white flour thats been stripped of all its nutrients. Did you know that natural sweeteners contain vitamins and minerals? Meet maple syrup and honey, my two baking best friends. I dont use any crazy ingredients that you can only find at a specialty store in the middle of New York City. Youll be able to find everything in this book at your local grocery store, or if not, then youll be able to order it on Amazon or Thrive Market. There was no way I could give up all the food I love. What I came to realize was that if I made these swaps, I could still eat everything I loved and my body wouldnt hate me for itand I wouldnt feel like I was missing out on anything.

Some of my favorite childhood memories are centered around food. I will always remember my Italian grandma making pizza fritte (fried doughum yeah, yum) for my brother and me when we would stay at her house, or my dad and I making homemade meatballs and sauce every Christmas Eve, and my mom teaching me how to make Thanksgiving stuffing the first time I hosted the dinner in my own home.

Good food can transform us and put a smile on our faces. Some days we just need to curl up on the couch with a big, comforting bowl of pasta bolognese. But in the past, when I indulged like that, Id feel the effects of a bloated stomach and would be so tired I could barely keep my eyes open. Luckily, with the right ingredients, thats no longer the case for meor for you!

After the response to my first cookbook, True Roots, which dealt with mindful eating and the 80/20 lifestyle, I realized there was a definite need for these types of healthier recipes. I believe that most people are like me: we know nothing beats comfort foodthats where the heart is. During the fall and winter months, when were warm and cozy inside our homes, with our loved ones, food brings us together and helps create lasting memories.

This book is a true representation of how my family and I eat on a daily basis. We dont consume cows milk, gluten, or anything processed and white (like white sugar, white salt, or white flour). We make substitutions with other types of dairy (buffalo mozzarella, anyone?), brown rice and lentil pasta, oat flour for baking, maple syrup and other healthy sweeteners, plus pink Himalayan salt, which is packed with vitamins and minerals.

Im not a chefIm just a mom who loves to cook. I love food and Im a health nut, and those two things dont have to be mutually exclusive. If I can make these dishes, so can you. And if I can commit to making this an important part of my lifestyle, you can too (if you want to really change your lifestyle ). You have a choice every day to live your best life.

With loveI hope you enjoy this book as much as I loved creating it.

I was so excited to have the opportunity to partner with Kristin in the kitchen again after the success of True Roots . For this book, we both drew inspiration from our own upbringings and the food that brought us joy. These recipes are all about comfort and being with family.

When I was growing up, eggplant parmesan and roasted chicken were two of my favorite comfort foods. My mom would make big platters and serve them family-style for all of us to enjoy. It was more than just the foodit was all about being together with family and friends.

Over the course of my culinary education and career, Ive cooked many types of food and always enjoyed experimenting with ingredients and trying new, out-of-the-box ideas. Youll find the results here: classic comfort food recipes that Kristin and I modernized to make more health-focused. For example, instead of using ricotta cheese in the stuffed shells, we use cashews, which taste and resemble ricotta almost perfectly. There are so many ways to get creative with alternative ingredients to suit your lifestyle and dietary needs while still maintaining all of the best parts of a dish.

Everyone has a dish or a meal that gives them comfort. I hope you enjoy making the dishes in True Comfort on your own or in the company of friends and family, and I hope that they bring back memories of happy times. There is nothing better than the time spent with loved ones while sharing a meal.