I once signed up to bring food to a woman who was recovering from surgery. She was gluten-free. And vegan. I, on the other hand, was stumped. What could I bring her? Water and a browning banana? So I looked online and researched lots of recipes for something that would fit her dietary needs AND that was relatively simple to prepare, sounded good to me (a gluten-full, non-vegan) and that wouldn’t have me running all over town to tiny, specialized markets that would also break my bank.
Enter Spicy Pumpkin Soup. It’s so so SO good and gets better on day 2 and 3! All you non-vegans can even add some shredded chicken to it. Or some fresh spinach. Gluten lovers will squeegee the sides of the bowl with crusty bread. Y.U.M. Here you go:
Ingredients
½ cup pumpkin seeds
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1 small can mild green chilies – rinsed and chopped
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon red chili flakes – optional
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 15 ounce can pureed pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mixture)
2 cups gluten free chicken or vegetable stock
1 14 ounce can coconut milk
Directions
In a dry skillet over medium high heat toast pumpkin seeds for about 3 minutes until browned and you can smell the oils being released. Set aside.
In a large sauce pan heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and chopped chilies. Sauté for 2 minutes. Add brown sugar, cumin, salt, pepper and red chili flakes. Sauté for another minute and then add the pumpkin, chicken or vegetable stock and coconut milk, stir well. Reduce heat and cook until heated through, 5 – 10 minutes.
Process soup in blender in batches until smooth. Make sure you remove the center piece from the blender lid so that the soup does not explode in the blender.
Garnish soup with reserved pumpkin seeds.