Pumpkin Chili and Buttercup Apple Soup

I live for chili and sweet creamy soup. So when I saw two these two recipes, I knew I had to try them.

I made the Pumpkin Chili on Sunday morning. It all started with a pumpkin.

           
This called for my fabulous (crappy a$$ old) electric knife.
               

(I know I look creepy as hell).

As my pumpkin baked, I decided to keep the fall feel of the morning by making an Autumn Grill sandwich which was inspired by one of my favorite blogs, Healthy Tipping Point.

I toasted my Ezekiel bread and then spread on some Fig preserves from Whole Foods and Almond Butter.

I then grilled up some bananas for the final product.

Num num num

After my lovely, lovely breakfast, I continued my chili.

Did anyone know this could happen to a pumpkin??
        

Holy crap.

 

The finished product looked something like this;

I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a little bland but I added in some feta cheese and the pumpkin seeds and that helped spice it up. It wasn’t bad but I think in the long run I’m still looking for a great pumpkin chili.
Any recipe suggestions?

On Monday I wasn’t feeling my normal self so instead of hot yoga I decided to try my hand at another blog swiped recipe.

I actually made a few changes to this one. Not because I thought I could….because there were a lot of “I thought I had” and “this doesn’t seem right.”

Alteration #1: The use of Buttercup Squash as opposed to Butternut.

Sadly, my neighborhood Publix did not have Butternut Squash so I had to settle for a substitute.  I’ve been meaning to try Buttercup Squash anyway so this gave me a good excuse.

Alteration #2: I had to bake the Buttercup Squash before starting the soup.

Since I couldn’t easily peel and cube it up, I had to once again break out the knife and slice down the middle.

 

Once it was baked up and soft, I added it to the apples I’d already cut in my crock pot.

Alteration #3: The use of a crock pot.

I also purchased already cut onions. I was feeling lazy.
Shocker.

After adding the onion and garlic, I went looking for my vegetable stock.

Uh oh.

Alteration #4: Use Chicken Stock.

I had already decided that I was going to take a hint from Kath Eats Real Food and wait to add in the Almond Milk till the next day. Apparently she had it curdle on her once. Yuck.

Right before I went to bed I got a whiff of the soup.
It smelled good but savory and I had really been hoping for sweet.

Alteration #5: Add in  nutmeg and Agave.

The next morning i woke up to what can only be described as “Thanksgiving Morning.” It smelled like mom’s kitchen on that glorious day.

I added the milk and ramped it on high for 20 minutes.

Alteration #6: Use vanilla Almond Milk

As a last step, I blended the soup together with my ghetto one mix blender.

The final result was AMAZING.

And incredibly filling.

And big. This made a LOT of leftovers.

Out of all the alterations I made, I think the “worst” was my decision to go with Buttercup squash. It wasn’t nearly as sweet. Live and learn.

 

And now for some real recipes:

Pumpkin Chili
1 sugar pumpkin, about 2 lbs.
1 T. vegetable oil
1 large yellow onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 T. chili powder
1 T. curry powder
½ t. ground cinnamon
6 plum tomatoes, chopped
2 ½ c. cooked bulgur
1 can organic kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
½ c. toasted (green) pumpkin seeds
½ c. chopped cilantro leaves and stems
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 375. Cut the pumpkin in half  and scoop out the seeds, remove the stringy innards, and rinse the seeds in a colander to remove any bits of flesh. Lay the seeds out on a paper towel to dry. Place the pumpkin open side down and bake until the flesh is soft, about 50 minutes to 1 hour. Remove the pumpkin from the oven and put it aside to cool. Now sprinkle the rinsed and dried pumpkin seeds on a prepared baking sheet, sprinkle with some salt, if desired, and toast in the oven until they are nicely browned and crisp, about 10 minutes, depending upon your oven. Set them aside.

In a  saucepan or stockpot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic, as well as the spices. Stir often for about 5 minutes, or until the onions turn soft. Add the tomatoes and bulgur and about 2 cups water. Bring to a simmer.

Meanwhile, spoon the flesh from the pumpkin and add it to the simmering chili along with the beans. Cook the chili for about 20 minutes, adding more water if necessary to attain a chili-like consistency. Right before serving add the toasted pumpkin seeds and the cilantro. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve hot.

 

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup
1 medium Butternut Squash (or buttercup)
2 Fuji Apples
1/2 Red Onion (or whatever amount looks right from the pre cut bowl)
2 tablespoons minced Garlic
2 cups Chicken Broth
1 cup Water
1 cup Vanilla Almond Milk
Salt & Pepper
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
2 Tbsp Agave
Parsly

If using butternut, peel and cube the squash and apple and add both to crock pot and let them heat for few minutes.

If using buttercup, divide and bake for 30 – 40 minutes. Let cool and scoop out inside into the crock pot. Heat for a few minutes with apples.

Add the onion and garlic.

Add the broth, water and seasonings.

Turn on low and let cook for about 6 – 7 hours. 20 minutes before you’re ready, add milk and turn up to high.

When done, blend smooth.

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