Fall has made an appearance in New York City, even if only for a brief stint this time around. Yesterday morning as Bo and I headed to the gym, a light jacket was required to keep the morning air from chilling my body. At Starbucks, I was tempted by their Fall posters, and finally chose a Chai Tea bag instead of my normal Green or Awake.

But, my favorite part of Fall is definitely comfort food. While all good things must be enjoyed in moderation, I don’t think I will ever tire of roasted root vegetables, spaghetti squash, pumpkin oats, apples fresh from the orchard, pears, or brussel sprouts.

Since Bo and I rarely make it home from work in time to cook a full meal during the week, we have a habit of cooking for the masses on Sunday. Around 3pm we’ll head to the grocery store, filling our cart with ingredients for at least two meals.

This week’s Sunday comfort meal was roasted chicken, fall salad, garlic green beans, and risotto!

We followed our favorite roasted chicken recipe again this week but we opted for a larger chicken since we knew we wanted it to last a few days. If you use a larger chicken, make sure you do some research on cooking times as it is easy to under cook it.

Our Fall salad included fresh greens and radicchio, chopped beets, a hint of blue cheese, sliced apples, tomatoes, and a homemade mustard vinaigrette.

I love to serve a hearty side with a meal like this but rarely have the time to make something from scratch. Luckily, my friends at Foodbuzz provided this week’s side; risotto!

I received two bags of Bird’s Eye Steamfresh Chef’s Favorites as part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program. We thought the mushroom and green bean risotto would pair well with the roasted chicken. This side is quite dense calorically, 180 calories per serving, but when enjoyed in moderation as a side it is perfect!

You can’t beat the ease of this risotto since all you do is stick it in the microwave for 4 minutes! The mushroom flavor was rich and the risotto was cooked perfectly! I highly recommend these items as a freezer staple, perfect for an easy week night dinner. They are available in grocery stores nation wide later this month.

Question: What is your favorite Fall comfort food?

 

 

Disclosure – As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I received Birds Eye Steamfresh Chef’s Favorites (Lightly Sauced Mushroom & Green Bean Risotto, Lightly Sauced Primavera Vegetable Risotto, Light Sauced Roasted Red Potatoes & Green Beans and Lightly Sauced Creamed Spinach). All product opinions expressed are my own.