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This Slow-Cooker Blackberry Cobbler makes for a lovely summer dessert.  It may not be the way that your grandmother made it, but adapting it to the slow-cooker makes it very low-hassle and accessible to the person on the go.  Enjoy this fruity and delicious helping of Southern comfort the easy way.

I have fond memories of eating this tasty dessert during those famously hot and humid summers on the Gulf Coast.  There were some really good-sized blackberry bushes behind where I lived as a teen, and if the neighbor kids and I were willing to take the time to pick them (you had to be careful to check for snakes and not scratch yourself on the brambles), we were rewarded for our efforts with a nice helping of blackberry cobbler that my next-door neighbor would make for all of us.

Of course, she made it the old-fashioned way, but I was eager to break out the Crock-Pot and give this recipe a go.  I was very pleased with the results.

Recipe and photo courtesy of  Crock-Pot Ladies

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Quick tip: Use a paper towel under the lid of your slow cooker, to absorb excess moisture.

So many Creole and Cajun dishes make for great comfort food, but they are all really complicated and take forever, right? WRONG! With this Creole Jambalaya recipe, you can bring all of the savory, rich flavors of Louisiana into your home in under an hour. It’s great and easy enough for a warm, everyday family dinner but also a fantastic idea for your next tailgate or potluck!

Though I don’t think that the Gulf Coast is quite as different from the rest of Mississippi as some people say, there is no denying that that proximity to New Orleans has had an effect on the locals’ food choices. Though I live a good bit north of the Coast now, after a few rainy days in this small college town, such as we have had here recently, my Deep South roots really come out in some of my comfort food cravings. I have so many fond memories of Mother slaving over a richly aromatic seafood gumbo…even on a summer day, when it was storming outside, I loved to curl up under a blanket with a full bowl of gumbo and feast on its delightful smells and beautifully mixed, spicy Louisiana flavors.

I didn’t really feel up to a full day in the kitchen, though, and let’s face it:  making a good gumbo can be really hard and time-consuming. Thankfully, there are recipes like this delicious Creole jambalaya that can be made in under an hour and still offer all of that uniquely comforting, gourmet New Orleans-style Deep South flavor to your dinner table in under an hour. (I ate plenty of jambalaya growing up, too.)

Original Recipe Gimme Some Oven

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Quick tip: If possible, use fresh shrimp for this dish. It makes all the difference!

Get Rid Of The Weeknight Blues With This Taste Bud Tantalizing Casserole

This simple but tasty Chicken Spaghetti Casserole is a delicious Southern classic–comfort food at its finest. This slice of the South is great for an easy but filling meal with the family but also a great go-to for your next potluck.

Would it be wrong to call this “soul food”?  It certainly is soul food for me.  In any event, it is delicious comfort food! Grandmother didn’t do much in the way of fancy cooking (Mother was more the experimenter and culinary explorer), but she did a number of classic Southern recipes very well; chicken spaghetti casserole was one of them. I remember eating this many times when I was little, visiting her home in the quaint Southern town of Hazlehurst, Mississippi, and rare was the occasion when I didn’t ask for seconds. (It is a mother’s job to protect and set down the rules and a grandmother’s job to indulge, am I right?)

I had wandered on to other cooking adventures and lost this recipe for a long time, unfortunately, but thanks to The Pioneer Woman‘s Ree Drummond and The Food Network, I was able to bring it to my dinner table again. Color me very grateful.

Recipe courtesy of Ree Drummond and The Food Network

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Quick tip: Use leftover chicken for this dish!

There isn’t much out there that beats Latin American cuisine on the “comfort food” scale, but it doesn’t exactly have the reputation for being super-healthy, and if you go to enough Mexican or Tex-Mex restaurants, you may feel that you are just ordering the same items over and over again, just with different names.  This tasty quinoa enchilada casserole is creative, original, filled with vibrant color…and HEALTHY! Wow!

If any region of the world has a comfort food tradition to rival good-old Southern soul food, it is Latin America.  Mexican and Tex-Mex food is nice, warm, and filling.  It’s relaxing.  It makes for good snack food, but it also makes for a great full meal.  And it’s not expensive at all.  You can’t go wrong with it, really.  Taco nights were a regular thing in my home when I was growing up, and I loved them.  I still have a bit of a tradition with Dad, when I go to visit him on the Gulf Coast:  On the day of my departure (pretty much the last thing I do before hitting the road back home, actually), we have lunch at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants.  That journey back home isn’t typically a grand Zen experience for me, by any means, but that soothing fare puts me in the right mindset and helps the trip go along that much more easily.

Still, I find myself limiting my intake of Latin American dishes at this point in my life. Most Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurants in my part of the world don’t offer much in the way of variety, and let’s face it:  Most of the items served at these establishments won’t exactly be making an appearance on any Jenny Craig meal plan.  Not so with this recipe, though–it remains true to the tradition but offers it a much-needed, exhilarating breath of fresh air, and it’s healthy.  How healthy?  Well…

Recipe adapted by Damn Delicious

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Quick Tip: Serve with fresh homemade bread – such a yummy combination!