Tausi Insider

Photo : Brent Hofacker ( Shutterstock ) The best pot pies are homemade ones, but lazy pot pies are the best answer to cold weather and low energy. You have every right to eat thick meat stews in pie form, but not everyone has the gumption to toil away for hours. There is a way to have it all. Summon up your inner Sandra Lee: T his hearty dish is made with store-bought components, so you can manipulate them into a delicious and worthy pie. For a proper lazy pie that tastes better than anything in the frozen section, you’ll need a can of soup and a sheet of packaged, frozen pastry. You can use puff pastry, or a sheet of pie dough, if you prefer. Thaw the pastry in the refrigerator according to the package directions, and preheat the oven to 400°F. Grab a can of creamy chicken soup. Maybe you already have a favorite: It might be chicken corn chowder, or chicken and dumplings, maybe even creamy chicken noodle, Progresso makes a chicken pot pie style soup , but whatever it is, t...

Photo : Claire Lower I am, as I write this, very cozy. With the weather being what it is (cold), it’s the only way to be. Being cozy is related to being warm, but it’s more about being comforted in a warm way. Soup, for example, is cozy. It warms from the inside out, but it also nurtures, satiates, and fills the home with delicious and inviting aromas. Potatoes are also cozy, and I have been eating a lot of them. I was/am on a big baked Yukon kick, but now I’ve shifted into soup mode with this deeply savory, creamy, and incidentally dairy-free potato and onion soup. (The sour cream on top is not dairy-free, but you can omit it.) This soup has two super- star ingredients: a bag of frozen hash browns, and burnt onions . The hash browns are a time- saver. The potatoes are already peeled and finely shredded, meaning all you have to do is open the bag and dump them in. The little shreds cook quickly and evenly, and puree with almost too much ease. You can use frozen hash browns in a...