They say comfort food is good for the soul.

Unfortunately, no one ever mentions your ass.

Lighten your winter load with seasonal grub from the Downtown Farmstand, a diamond-in-the-rough indoor market in the Loop. Open through mid-December, the spot stocks fruits, veggies, herbs, condiments, preserves, baked and dry goods, prepared items, and other hibernation-friendly foodstuffs (coffee, honey), all produced within a 250-mile radius of the Chi.

Lunchtime cooking demos on Wednesdays and Fridays (black bean burgers with sweet and spicy Brussels sprouts) put Panda Express to shame. Don’t work in the Loop? Check the website for the recipes, which are published weekly.

After a dead-of-winter hiatus, the Farmstand will return in the spring even bigger and more bountiful.

Hopefully unlike yourself.

Chicago’s Downtown Farmstand, 66 East Randolph Street, between Michigan and Wabash Avenues (312-744-2400 or chicagofarmstand.com).