Ultimate Comfort Foods? Happy Meals? Taste of Joy?

Three comfort food recipes by recent culinary school graduates compiled together by Klipsun writer Carlee Schram.

Design by Elliot Fogarty.

Food can be the ultimate pick-me-up, whether you’ve had a bad day or that constant Washington rain has got you feeling under the weather. Comfort food does exactly what it sounds like – comfort you – and for me that looks like a bowl of creamy, buttery macaroni and cheese. For 22-year-old culinary grad Aaron Garcia, there’s nothing better than fresh home-cooked chilaquiles and salsa verde. 

In search of the ultimate comfort food recipes to make it through this fall, I invited Garcia and two of his former classmates from the Bellingham Technical College culinary arts program to share some joy in the form of food. They were told to pick a dish that inspired true happiness within them – the ultimate comfort food – and prepare it for me. 

As they cooked and enjoyed their so-called happy meals, they gave me some insight into how their chosen dish came to hold such power and where the recipes originated from.