Spiced Pumpkin Soup

It's that time of year again, when the pumpkin madness begins! I know, this kinddaa looks like Applesauce, but it's actually pumpkin soup. Yup. Pumpkin Soup. Creamy, deliciousness. The secret ingredient to its thick density? Chickpeas. 

Spiced Pumpkin Pie Soup

gluten free~vegan 

Servings: 6

1 pumpkin (sugar pumpkin works)

8 cloves garlic

2 tablespoon EVOO

1/2 onion, diced

1-15 oz can chickpeas, with water

6 tablespoons soy/almond/any non-dairy milk

1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1) First, preheat your oven to 350 F

2) Stab your pumpkin 6 times around, so that it punctured through the inside. Drizzle 1 Tablespoon EVOO onto your pumpkin and rub it all in!

3) Put your pumpkin on a deep dish baking tray (like one you would use to make brownies) and roast it for 1 1/2 hours (Mine took a little less, so check after an hour- it depends on the oven, and my oven is small in my apartment). 

4) When pumpkin is tender and easy to put a knife through, take it out of the oven and let it rest for 30 minutes.

5) Cut your pumpkin in half, and take out the stringy stuff in the middle (save the pumpkin seeds to roast for later!). Spoon out the roasted pumpkin remaining that will be for your soup! (I began doing this part when I was ready to put it in the soup)

6) Next, begin making the soup! Add the remaining tablespoon to a 4 quart saucepot and add in your whole cloves of garlic and diced onion over medium-high heat. Cook for 3 minutes.

7) Add in the pumpkin as well as your can of chickpeas (with water), pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon. Bring to a boil. Once it is boiling, let it simmer for 15 minutes. 

8) Take it off the heat and either use an immersion blender or a blender to your desired consistency. 

9) When serving, add in 1 tablespoon of soy milk for each serving and swirl. Sprinkle cinnamon on top to serve!

Per Serving:

165 calories ~ 25g CHO ~ 5g FAT ~ 6g PRO

My mom made some corn muffins for the soup- followed the recipe from the back of the box of a corn muffin mixture, and substitute buttermilk for Soy + Apple Cider Vinegar, and ENER-G for Eggs :] such a sweetheart. And topped it with some vegan butter? Perfeecctttttt

My little Iggy try to catch some dreams :]<3

Eden Cafe and Italian Vegetable Soup

What a tremendously hot day it way! I've been working my little booty off lately for the opening of the season. I've been managing to keep up with the cooking, the working out and whatnot- but I've been eating a little more every day: WOOPS! It's tough to go sometimes an entire day without eating and my willpower slowly begins to deteriorate. Thankfully, starting tomorrow I'm probably going to go on a diet consisting of eliminating processed foods and focusing on natural, simple ingredients. My face breaks out tremendously at work being around all the fryer oil; on top of that having to sweat and have a rather unhealthier diet than usual. 

Before my mother went to Wanderlust in Vermont (the lucky duck!), she took me out to my FAVORITE vegan cafe- Eden. It is located in the city of Scranton, PA- probably 30 minutes away from us (which isn't bad at all!). It is right next to Lackawanna College, where one of my good friends went to school. I had a carrot-almond soup that was so heavenly. I am definitely recreating this and I could probably make it into a raw soup, chilled for those summer days. Then we had a hummus and veggie platter and since the place is gluten-free friendly, they gave us some toasted almond bread on the side. The hummus was homemade and it was so delicious! I brought home some mock tuna salad for dinner as well as a grilled chicken cheesesteak for Bill. It definitely was a good day for me :]

                     

The next day, I decided to try and recreate one of my family's traditional recipes: our italian vegetable minestrone. I have been in the mood for soup lately, because it has been rather chilly every day except the last two days. The idea first came up when I was in the grocery store browsing for dinner idea's and I saw Amy's Rustic Italian Vegetable Soup. I decided to recreate it a little bit and use their secret ingredient for the little baby noodles: CHICKPEAS! And instead of spinach, I used kale. These were probably the only two things I really used from the Amy's...but the chickpea idea was so perfect! I'm not sure if I want to give out my momma's italian vegetable soup recipe, because her "broth" has been our family's grandest pride because it is a homemade "broth" that my father taught us and we use it for many bases for italian entrees; ie there's not gonna be a recipe for this :x But I will give you the vegetables I used to make mine!

Italian Vegetable Soup

Serves 4

1-15oz can chickpeas, drained (reserve the chickpea water)

2 medium shallots, diced

2 teaspoons minced garlic

4 red bell peppers, chopped

2 zucchini, chopped

2 bunches curly kale, taken off the stem

1 cup oyster mushrooms, destemmed

some vegetable broth (this is where my broth is secret :])

1 tablespoon EVOO

2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped

sea salt and white pepper to taste

1. Preheat EVOO in a 4-qt saucepot medium-high heat. Add in your shallots and cook for 2 minutes.

2. Next, add in your garlic and cook for an extra minute.

3. Add in salt, pepper, and your red bell peppers and zucchini and cook for approximately 5-10 minutes, until they are pretty soft.

4. Add in a good amount of vegetable broth that just covers your mixture and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and add in your chickpea water, oyster mushrooms and chickpeas. Simmer for 12-15 minutes.

5. When your water has reduced a good amount and your mixture seemed very thick, mixe in your fresh basil and take it off the heat to serve.

Chickpeas on Chickpeas

I decided to trial the length of an average bike ride to work. I thought it was going to be something ridiculous like 30 minutes- but it was actually only 15 minutes! That makes me so much more motivated to bike to work. 

I've been trying to keep positive spirits lately because I feel like there's been so much negativity around me. I want to be a happy-go-lucky kinda gal. I want to make better of life. I don't want to dwell on bad- happiness is bliss, baby!

For today's post, I made some semi-homemade chickpea soup! Usually, I work long days and when I come home, I don't want to spend a great deal of time cooking- I just want to eat! one of my favorite soups is Wegman's Moroccan Chickpea and Lentil Soup. I love this soup so much because you can jazz it up any way you want it. For mine- I simply warmed it up on the stove top and added:   -1/2 can chickpeas (drained)                       -A big heaping bunch of kale or spinach (I get kale from my mom's boyfriend's garden-but I've tried spinach and it works just as good!)                                           -1 teaspoon sriracha and a pinch of cumin and crushed red pepper flakes.

Let the chickpeas simmer for approximately 10 minutes and garnish with whatever you want- I garnished mine with some sprouted garbanzo (chickpeas) beans, some cup up scallions and a few more drops sriracha. In little than you know, you have a faux-gourmet meal! So easy! BUT WAIT- it gets better

One of the most frustrating things about not using a whole can of chickpeas is that you'll feel obligated to either A) throw it out B) throw it in a boring salad C) Make Moroccan Lentil Chickpea Soup again. I love the soup, but variety is nice, ya know? What I like to do is premake my lunch for work the next day and make a wonderful CHICKPEA SALAD! What? That's right-- another recipe that is just as fast and you can save some time in the morning before bolting to work (might I say, you might be able to enjoy that cup of coffee). And- this recipe is so versatile you can tweak it any way you want- in 10 minutes or less :]. All you need is:

Chickpea Salad

Serves 1

- 1/2 can chickpeas, drained

- 2 T lemon juice

- 1 T fresh basil

- 1/2 teaspoon EVOO

- 1 Plum tomato, diced

- Few sprinkles Vegan Parmesan Cheese

- 1/4 teaspoon paprika

- salt and pepper

• Toss gently right in your to go container for work and store it in the fridge for the next morning!