I am surprised that I’m posting about food again! I think of myself as someone who cooks out of necessity, not because I enjoy the process. However, I do love tasting good food.

Since I’ve had a list of food restrictions for about six months (which has kept me out of most restaurants) I’m getting much more adventurous in the kitchen. Hey, if you must cook, you might as well make something really good, right?

Not long ago I posted a pumpkin bread recipe. Well, the truth is that somehow I had purchased four cans of pumpkin and our cupboards are not very big. Today I decided to figure out another way to use some pumpkin, and I ended up making a fabulous soup. It was like going to a fancy restaurant, but it was right here at home! The soup was so fluffy and creamy, you’d swear it had dairy in it but it did not. Mmmm….

I have made similar soups before. The best was a Butternut Squash and Granny Smith Apple soup from a wonderful cookbook: The Vegetarian Hearth by Darra Goldstein. However, Ms. Goldstein’s soup requires baking a squash, peeling, mashing or pureeing, then grating apples, and all sorts of other high-labor tasks. My friend Ulyana makes an African pumpkin-peanut soup that is similar, although I’ve not seen her recipe. This recipe is a lot of bang for almost no labor, and is just great.

I made a lentil/bulgur pilaf to go with the soup. I had never made anything like it before, so I was a bit nervous it wouldn’t be good. However, it turned out well also. I’ll share the soup recipe with you today and save the bulgur recipe for another day. By the way, I may seem to use odd ingredients but they are staples in our house. You can substitute similar items if that is what you have in your kitchen. Cooking is not at all an exact science!

LynnH’s Easy Pumpkin Soup
1 can (1-3/4c) Pumpkin (not seasoned pie filling)
1 cup Unsweetened Applesauce
2-1/2 cup Broth
(I used a fabulous organic chicken broth by Imagine, but you could use vegetable broth; the better the broth, the better the soup.)
4 Tbsp Nut Butter (I used half cashew butter and half almond butter.
Use peanut butter if that is all you have, but almond is fabulous if you can get it; or try sesame tahini from the Mideastern market, or pumpkin seed butter if you don’t tolerate tree nuts)
1/4 tsp marjoram (or oregano)
generous dash allspice
1/4 tsp white pepper (this ingredient just makes a creamy soup right)

Heat all ingredients slowly, stirring frequently with a wire whisk until nut butters are evenly distributed. Continue to heat at a low simmer for 20 minutes or so, stirring occasionally. Serve with a dash of nutmeg, whole grain biscuits or bulgur-lentil pilaf (contains gluten), and a steaming cup of tea.

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