Fall In Love With Pumpkin!

Pumpkin Smoothie

I love pumpkin more than a normal person.  This fall, like every fall, I am making tons of recipes with pumpkin.  

 

Since this post is for Vitamix Chicks, I figured what better than a pumpkin smoothie.

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 1 ripe banana
• 1/3 cup pecans
• 1 cups sunflower milk
• 8 cubes ice
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Dash of ground ginger

Directions:  Add all ingredients to your Vitamix and blend.  Enjoy!

Pear Sauce - Super simple recipe for extra ripe fruit

 

Ingredients:

6-7 small pears (extra ripe)

1 tsp cinnamon

Dash of lemon juice

Directions:

Remove stems and seeds from all pears, leaving the skins on.  Quarter the pears and place in a crock pot.  Cook on low for about 2 hours.  Once the pears are cooked, put them in the blender jar with the cinnamon and a tiny dash of lemon juice.  Start blending on low and gradually increase to high.  Total blending time is about 1-2 minutes.  Put the pear sauce in a jar and refrigerate.  Use within a couple of days.

I like the recipe when I have pears or apples that are bruised or getting too ripe.  The kids love it.  This is perfect for a small batch of overripe fruit so that you make good use of it and create less waste. 

Pumpkin Bisque

• 1 small pumpkin (for eating and save the seeds) - made 2 cups
• ¾ cup dried navy beans
• ½ cup leeks (sliced and thoroughly rinsed)
• 1 tsp ground clove
• 13.5 oz can of coconut milk
• ½ tsp ground clove
• ½ tsp ground ginger
• ¼ tsp thyme
• ¼ tsp pure vanilla extract
• ¼ tsp sea salt
• Pumpkin seeds from the pumpkin
• Parsley sprig (for garnish)

Soup directions:

Blend the cooked pumpkin, cooked navy beans and other ingredients together (except the pumpkin seeds and parsley).  I like to use my high-powered Vitamix blender.  You can use an immersion blender as well.  I just love how creamy the Vitamix makes the soup and it even keeps the ingredients warm while blending.  Directions for cooking the pumpkin and navy beans from scratch are below.

Shortcut Timesaving Tip:  Use cubed and frozen pumpkin that takes only a fraction of the time to cook.  Then you can use a can of navy beans, or great northern beans or cannellini beans (just make sure to rinse really, really well).  Top the soup with store bought pumpkin or pepita seeds.

Pumpkin from scratch:

Cut pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds and pulp.  Remove the seeds and save for later.  Place pumpkin halves face down in a baking dish.  Add ½ inch of water to the dish.  Bake at 450 degrees for about 45 minutes to an hour.  You will know it’s done with the skin can be pierced with a fork and the flesh feels tender.  Once the pumpkin cools, scoop out the pumpkin. 

*Rinse the seeds and toss in just a tiny bit of olive oil and sea salt.  Bake in a shallow baking dish and turn every few minutes.  Bake about 15-20 minutes. 

Navy Beans from scratch:

Rinse and then soak ¾ cup navy beans for 4-8 hours.  This works well if you start soaking the beans in the morning before starting your day and doing so with hot water from your tea kettle.  Soak in a covered dish.  When you are ready to prepare the soup, cook the navy beans.  Discard the soaking water to reduce flatulence.  Add 3 cups of water, bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer 1 ½ - 2 hours.