January 25, 2013 | 2 minute read

Turkey Potpie with Cornbread Crust

Whether because of shorter days or cold temperatures, I am craving warm, soothing and filling foods these days. These comfort foods are often high calorie with lots of added fat – okay for an occasional treat – but winter weather can last awhile so it’s easy to overdo and end up with a few extra pounds when spring finally arrives.

Fortunately, here at AICR we have plenty of recipes based on traditional comfort foods, but they’ve gone through a healthy makeover. As for all AICR dishes, they meet our recipe guidelines and they’ve had to pass the taste test, so you don’t have to sacrifice flavor for a healthy, cancer-preventive dish.

I asked around and these are some of our staff’s favorite healthy makeover comfort foods. I’ve compared the nutrition facts to those of a typical recipe or a prepared, purchased dish.

Turkey Potpie with Cornbread Crust: This is a great recipe that with fewer calories and less fat combines the creamy goodness of the potpie filling with another comfort food – cornbread. The recipe is gluten-free for those unable to include gluten in their diet.

Compared to a serving of a prepared frozen potpie (from the USDA database), you’ll save over 300 calories, 28 grams of fat and 800 mg of sodium.

Macaroni and Cheese: Here you get two benefits: up the vegetables in your diet and maintain the smooth, creamy texture with lower calories, bite for bite.

Compared to a serving of prepared frozen mac and cheese (from the USDA database), you save 120 calories, 8 g fat and  300 mg of sodium.

Italian Toasted Cheese Sandwich: Another recipe that adds vegetables but still preserves the basic grilled cheese flavor and texture.

Per sandwich (from an online classic recipe), you’ll save about 200 calories, 20 g fat and 300 mg sodium.

What are your favorite winter comfort foods? Share how you make them healthier.