…when the temperatures are below freezing, and even two pairs of socks aren’t enough…
Warm foods and drinks provide the ultimate comfort.
Apple Amaranth + Walnuts (Hot Cereal)
1 c amaranth
3 c soy milk
1/4 t ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
1 large apple, cored and diced
1/2 c chopped walnuts
Place all ingredients (minus the walnuts) in a medium saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring frequently. Cover pan and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 25 minutes or until amaranth is soft. Top with walnuts and serve. [Adapted from The UltraMetabolism Cookbook
The amaranth is a delicious whole grain, very similar to quinoa in texture and taste. (In fact, quinoa could be a substitute if amaranth is not available…) I added a few more apples and a little more cinnamon, because I love them, and they are red for Project Spectrum 
Speaking of red, you can’t really get any redder than a beet. I recently discovered a deep and abiding love for this root vegetable. My mother says that I was allergic to them as a child, and I can safely say that the allergy passed. I have eaten them three times in the last week! And that color – wow!
It just looks warm!
Beetroot and Butter Bean Soup
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion, sliced
1 tsp caraway seeds
finely grated orange zest
9 oz cooked beets
5 cups vegetable stock
14 oz can of butter beans, drained
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
4 tbsp sour cream
4 tbsp chopped parsley
Heat the oil in a large pan and book the onion, caraway seeds, and orange zest until soft but not colored. Grate the pre-cooked beets and add to the pan with the stock, beans, and vinegar. Simmer on low heat for 10 minutes further. Divide the soup, and add a dollop of sour cream and garnish with parsley. Serve hot. [Adapted from 400 Best-Ever Soups
This is a simple and quick variation on borscht, cutting out some ingredients. It doesn’t cut down on the taste, however. It is a delicious dish. And if you are like me, you might start dreaming of beet-colored yarn…
…and my ultimate favorite warmer-upper…
…Green tea with a little heartwarming message…
–
Cooking for Project Spectrum seemed to be a natural thing for me, specifically with the fire element. Several participants have told me that they are interpreting fire to mean warmth, and this idea resonates with me as well. The idea of preparing my food with purpose and slowly enjoying the warmth of the meal brings great satisfaction.
What warms you up on the coldest of days?
I’m feeling a cozy just looking at your pictures. Thanks for the recipes. I’ve never even heard of amarenth, but I’ll have to try it. I love warm apples (love apple pie, crisp, etc).
I’ll be right over————— what can I bring?
Looks absolutely delish———-
Mmm, cozy, warm food!
My favorite thing for a really cold day is simple–a cup of tea. Black tea with milk and a little sugar. Preferably drunk while sitting on the couch with Chappy and a good book. Hot soup, of course, is wonderful if it’s homemade, but since I’m the only one in the family who eats it, it’s not really worth the effort very often. And I love a bowl of oatmeal on a cold morning, with some coffee . . .
And, why don’t you cook the walnuts with the rest of the cereal?
The Apple and Amaranth look delicious! It’s a great idea for the quinoa I have in my cabinet.
On a really cold day I love sushi. I know it’s weird, and not any kind of warm, but I love to find a comfy table and just order lots and lots of food.
i just started drinking green tea. what brand of tea is that?
Hot chocolate. Lots and lots of hot chocolate. And, as odd as it sounds, turning off the heat and crawling under blankets. There’s something about being under warm blankets when it’s very cold that just makes me feel good.
That beet soup looks so delicious!
Hmm, I’ve got beets from the farmer’s market in the fridge and I love any soup with butter beans in it — I may just have to try that later this week! I definitely like to cozy up to a bowl of soup or stew when it’s cold…or fresh-baked bread, or homemade cookies, or a cup of hot tea — I’m not picky!
How yummy! I love that green tea – more enjoyable with the message.
Looks yummilicious! I wonder if I can find amaranth anywhere around here? Meanwhile, oatmeal will have to do =/
Soup! I just wrote about our new diet of soups too! Unfortunately, I made borscht but we found that we don’t like the taste of beet too much! But soups are really warming!
When asked my favorite color, I always have a hard time deciding what to call it. Often I say raspberry or cranberry, but I think it could be called fresh beet juice. Beautiful!
Thank you for these recipes. They both look delicious. I’ve been on a hunt for amaranth for the past month, but apparently I live in an amaranthless town. I’m planning to pick some up in Seattle this weekend, and I’ll definitely be trying it as hot cereal. Yours looks so good! That’s one of my favorite things when it’s really cold, along with tea and my alpaca shawl. I like to put steel cut oats with apples, raisins and cinnamon in the crock pot overnight. It makes getting up in the cold and dark to go to work a lot nicer, with that warm smell filling the house.
These are not ingredients I would think to use, but photographed so beautifully they look quite tasty. I’ve really been wanting to make soup lately. It has been very cold in Brooklyn recently. My children and I have been cooking for PS. So far we’ve made bacon biscuits and chocolate chip pancakes. We have these blondies on deck next
http://smittenkitchen.com/2006/11/blondies-for-a-blondie/
I bake cookies on cold days
Probably not the healthiest idea, but I love the warm gooey first bite straight out of the oven. That and for the rest of the day, when I come back into the apartment from the cold outside, I am hit with the delicious smell 
Nothing better on a cold day than some roasted beets…love em!
Your food photography is gorgeous! How do you get that nice warm color? By Playing with the white balance? I could practically smell it! (though my husband is cooking in the kitchen!) I started eating amaranth in college and there’s nothing like it. it feels so….sustaining.
)
Mmm that cereal sounds lovely and cosy making, have some quinoa so will have to give it a go
My husband is a beet fanatic! In the summer try making a refreshing beet chutney to eat with everything. For me, there is nothing like a cup of strong tea on a cold morning…
On cold days I love to take a hot bath and then put on sweatpants and a nice scarf, then have some soup. My favorite soup is from the Moosewood Cookbook–the Spanish Potato soup that has miso as its base. Gosh that is the best soup ever.
mmmm…homemade cinnamon rolls. My grandpa taught me how to make them when I was little – he used to make them for me every time he came to visit. And now any time I open a little packet of yeast, I’m transported back to my childhood, kneading out the dough with my grandpa in the wee hours of the morning. Of course, we’ve changed the recipe over the years. He now makes icing with cream cheese to be healthier, and I’ve switched to half whole-wheat flour and half white, substituting Sucanat for the brown sugar and thinking of adding some organic honey in the mix….
mmm – i’ll have to try that with Quinoa – I always have that on hand! I also love putting bananas into oatmeal or hot cereal – they melt away and just infuse it with the flavor!
Yum! It all looks so good!
I made some corn chowder yesterday to warm up my tummy.
It’s well below zero this week in the Great White North, so all my cold-weather rituals are in effect. My favorite cure for a Minnesota winter, and the best gift I’ve been given since moving up here? Rommegrot. It’s a traditional Norwegian dessert, designed to stick to your ribs and warm your bones. It’s basically hot, creamy, sweetened fat: whole milk, tons of butter, flour, and sugar, slow-cooked and then baked. The result is a sweet porridge that cures everything that ails you. And the best part about it is that when it’s 15 below, you don’t really have to worry about gaining weight from it, because you burn it all off as soon as you step outside. Those Scandinavians sure know what they’re doing!
Orange cuddly Kitties warm me up on cold days!
I’m going to have to try your apple recipe! I’ve been looking for warm breakfast type things to cook (ever since reading “In Defense of Food”) that I can make from scratch. Cooking in general tends to warm me up on cold days.
that amaranth is just begging for some flax seed to be sprinkled on top!
everything looks so tasty.
Gorgeous photos! I wish I had a good suggestion for cozy food, but it never gets close to freezing here, let alone below. I *do* like a nice spicy vegetarian Indian curry, though, over basmati rice, with cucumber raita – I’m probably going to make that tonight, when the temperature hits 45 or so.
BTW, congrats on your article in the new IK! Just got mine yesterday and was chuffed to see your name!
The apple-amaranth looks wonderful and certainly fits into my favorite cold-weather fare: baked apples, hot apple cider, etc. And when I can’t have hot apples, I love hot Vietnamese pho soup….
For the moment, I’m all for hot chocolate or cocoa…part water, part milk though. I can’t go for the whole cup of milk. :-p
Yum! I love soup, and I’m back on my soup-a-week thing. I need to freshen my recipe repertoire, though. Also- can’t go wrong with a nice cup of real hot chocolate. Mmm… ps: I’m sure you’ll find it, but I gave you a lil’ shout out on the ol’ blog. oh, and pps: Great article in IK!
thanks for sharing these delicious-sounding recipes! I’ve been on a campaign recently to get the boy to start liking beets – he said his mom overdid it when he was a child and now he’s not so found of them. I put a golden beet in with carrot soup last week and it was a hit, so I’m slowly getting there.
Roasting beets and other root veggies also makes them really delicious, by the way.
I keep warm on the coldest day with my warm breath. See, I spend so much time and energy complaining about how awful it is that I manage to warm myself
Thankfully, I haven’t had to do that too much lately.
MMMMM I’m totally going to make the apple cereal. I just to get some apples!
The apple cereal looks so comforting……thanks for always sharing such great stories and life with us….
Blogless Diane
Both recipes look so tasty!
I have also recently discovered a love for beets, and have to let you know that The Veganomicon by Isa Chanda Moskowitz has two excellent beet recipes. Orange Glazed Beets (delicious hot and cold) and a beet and barley soup that just talking about makes me salivate. I know you’re vegetarian, you may really like the Veganomicon. I haven’t made a bad recipe out of it yet. I’ve posted quite a few photos of finished dishes on my LiveJournal, if you’re interested. http://marclar.livejournal.com/
Congrats on your article! I just got my issue, I can’t wait to go home and read it!