day 28

A typical Sunday: breakfast, groceries, cuddles, cooking, dinner, crafting....  Yet, every Sunday has something special.  Today, we picked apples from our trees.  We washed, cored and sliced them.  There are now 7 "ziploc" bags of cut apples in the freezer, ready to become pie-fillings or maybe apple jellies.

We also made an amazing pumpkin soup: light, filling, and fast to make.

• Cut one medium pumpkin in half.  Remove seeds, fill with a mix of your favorite herbs and spices (I used branches of marjoram and oregano from the garden, and a little bit of thyme).  Sprinkle with salt and fresh pepper and roast in the oven at 300F for 30 minutes or until tender.

• Prepare roasted garlic: wrap head of garlic in aluminum foil and throw in the oven together with pumpkin.

• While pumpkin and garlic are roasting, cube one small onion and a couple of celery stalks.  Also, roughly cube two Granny Smith apples and one sweet potato.  Finally, mince 1 teaspoon of fresh ginger.
• Heat up a little bit of olive oil and cook onions, ginger and celery for 5 minutes (until onions become translucent).  Add apples and sweet potato; cook for 2-3 minutes.
• Add 3-4 cups of vegetable broth, bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes (until potato is ready).  You can also add a couple of bay leaves and a branch or two of herbs you used for the pumpkin.
• Blend potato-apple base until smooth.
• By this time pumpkin and garlic should be ready.  Cool pumpkin down and then scrape off the flesh and add to soup base.  Add roasted garlic to the soup (simply cut one of head's ends and squeeze out the pulp).
• Blend the soup and add water/broth to obtain desired consistency.  You can also add a little bit of cream to make the soup a little bit smoother.
• Adjust seasoning, reheat the soup, and serve.  You can garnish it with parmesan petals, roasted pumpkin seeds, or fresh herbs.
• Enjoy with  a slice of freshly-baked bread.

Chips and Nuts Pumpkin Squares

Maybe it was Dana, who started it all with her pumpkin choc chip cookies..... or maybe it was Elana and her gluten-free pumpkin bars that gave me an idea ..... or maybe it all began a long long time ago, when I mixed 2 of my least favorite ingredients and realized that I like pumpkin .... or maybe it was just a happy accident that brought these yummy, light, and moist pumpkin squares filled with chocolate and carob chips, nuts, and love.

The picture was taken early in the morning, thus the grainy and overall crappy quality ;)

What you need:

2 cups pumpkin puree

1/2 cup molasses (could be replaced by sugar)

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup ground almond (could be replaced by flour)

1 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

Chips and nuts:

1/4 cup shredded coconut

1/4 cup carob chips (could be replaced by chocolate chips)

1/4 cup chocolate chips

1/4 cup walnuts

Extra:

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp cloves

a pinch of nutmeg

What to do:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• In a smaller bowl mix pumpkin puree, eggs, vanilla, and molasses/sugar
• In a big bowl mix flour, almond flour, soda, salt, coconut, and dry spices (cinnamon and cloves)
• Fold (pour) wet ingredients into dry ones and mix thoroughly.  If the mix is too runny, add more flour
• Mix-in chips and nuts
• Grease an 8x8 baking dish.  Pour the dough in.  Put in the oven and set your timer to 30 minutes
• Check if the squares are ready by inserting a toothpick in a middle.  It should come out slightly wet (mine took about 33 minutes to cook)
• Let cool a little bit and enjoy the yuminess

Tips and Suggestions: 

Although the pumpkin season is pretty much over, at least in Montreal, you can use canned pumpkin puree or try substitute pumpkin with squash (roast and puree it in a food processor)

This super easy recipe can be easily veganized (use egg replacer or try ground flax seeds)

You can use a food processor to mix wet and dry ingredients  

Be creative, experiment: try your own spice mix, use different nuts, and serve the squares topped with icing or even whipped cream! 

For a vegan version, use egg-replacer, vegan sugar, and vegan chocolat chips

“Three Sister Casserole” with Pumpkin Pesto.

From Vegetarian Times

The colder days are here and it is time to cook in the oven. I made this casserole Saturday night. I used pumpkin instead of squash, and white kidney beans instead of pinto beans. The result was mmmmmmmmm yammyyyyyyy.

Note: My squash mix was pretty liquid. I hesitated, but pour the leftover “juice” before covering with the second layer of polenta. The result was very good.

A Native American expression “three sisters” refers to the practice of growing beans, corn, and squash together. This filling casserole can be frozen for an upcoming party or made fresh for diner.
 

Image from Vegetarian Times

Polenta Topping
1 ½ cups yellow cornmeal

1 tbsp chili powder

¾ tsp salt

Filling
3 tbsp olive oil divided

1 small onion, chopped (about 1 cup)

1 large yellow or red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch dice (about 1 cup)

1 lb kabocha (sweet mama) squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes (about 2 cups)

1 15-oz. can diced tomatoes with chilies

2 cloves garlic, minced (about 2 tsp)

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

½ tsp salt
1 15-oz. can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed

To make the topping: 

• Whisk together cornmeal, chili powder, salt and 4½ cups water in double boiler, or in the large metal bowl over barely simmering water (bain maraine)
• Cook 40 minutes, or until polenta is thick and stiff, stirring 3 or 4 times
• Remove from heat

To make the filling

• Preheat oven to 375F. 
• Heat 2 Tbs. oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, and cook 7 minutes, or until soften, stirring often
• Add bell pepper and cook 5 more minutes, stirring often
• Stir in squash, tomatoes, garlic, coriander and cumin. Cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Stir in ½ cup of water and salt. Bring mixture to boil, reduce heat, and simmer, partially covered, 10-15 minutes, or until squash is tender
• Stir in beans and corn, and cook 5 minutes, or until slightly thickened, stirring occasionally
• Coat 8x11-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Spread 2 cups polenta over bottom.
• Spoon squash mixture over polenta. Smooth remaining polenta (~ 2½ cups) over top
• Score casserole into 6 squares with knife. Brush top with remaining 1 Tbs. oil. Bake 30 minutes, or until heated through and top is lightly browned.

Pumpkin Seed Pesto.

The pumpkin oil tends to be expensive (mine was ~12$ for a small bottle). The recipe advices to substitute it with olive oil.

1 cup unsalted hulled (green) pumpkin seeds

1 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
½ cup toasted pumpkin seed oil
¼ cup fresh lime juice

1 tsp salt
Pinch cayenne

• Toast pumpkin seeds in a large skillet over the medium heat 4-5 minutes, or until puffed and golden, stirring constantly
• Transfer seeds to food processor. Add remaining ingredients, and process until smooth.
• Store in airtight container in a refrigerator for up to a week.

Yield: 1 cup

Pumpkin and Red Lentil Curry

From Cooking Light Magazine

This is what I made last week-end (sorry folks - no picture). My only modification was doubling the amount of some spices and serving it over rice. It turned out very good, and was even better the next day. The squeeze of lime makes a big difference!!!

Because pumpkin has a neutral taste, it works well in Indian curries, where it takes on the flavors of the spices. For the best results, choose pie pumpkin, which is smaller, sweeter, and more tender than the larger pumpkins used for carving jack-o'-lanterns. You can substitute brown lentils and cook them 20 to 30 minutes longer, adding more broth, if necessary.

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 cups chopped onion (about 2 medium)

5 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled fresh pumpkin (about 1 3/4 pounds)

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

3/4 tsp ground turmeric

1/4 tsp ground red pepper

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 small jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped

4 cups vegetable brot

1 (14.5-oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 cup dried small red lentils

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

6 lime wedges

• Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.
• Add onion; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Stir in pumpkin and next 7 ingredients (through jalapeño); cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly.
• Add broth and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until pumpkin is just tender.
• Stir in lentils; cook 10 minutes or until lentils are tender.
• Stir in salt and black pepper.
• Ladle stew into individual bowls; sprinkle with cilantro. Serve with lime wedges.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: about 1 1/3 cups stew, 2 teaspoons cilantro, and 1 lime wedge)

Link to the recipe on Cooking Light website