Pumpkin Soup
🌱🎃🤔 Did you know that all of the pumpkins except for their stalk are edible? You can eat the fleshy shell, the seeds, the leaves, and the flowers. Whether you can eat the skin or not depends on the variety. Luckily, pumpkin season is in full swing! Let’s learn more about this veggie, king of the Halloween feast.
💪 Rich in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, pumpkin is incredibly healthy. What’s more, pumpkin is an excellent source of vitamin A due to its bright orange colour. One of the best ways to include pumpkin in your meals is by eating the seeds because they are rich in unsaturated fats and nutrients like magnesium, iron, and fibre.
👩🍳 There are plenty of ways to cook with pumpkin, and this versatile ingredient is used in sweet and savoury dishes like salads, curries, soups, desserts, and baked treats. Grandma Sita loves to enjoy a bowl of plant-based pumpkin soup on a chilly autumn day.
INGREDIENTS
2 small white onion
1-2 cloves of garlic
2 potatoes
1 small Hokkaido pumpkin
veggie oil, to sauté
water, to boil
pinch of nutmeg
salt & pepper to taste
roasted pumpkin seeds and bread (to serve)
METHOD
1. Wash the vegetables well. Peel potatoes and pumpkin. Cut everything into big pieces. Chop the onion and garlic.
2. Heat veggie oil in the pot. Sauté onion and garlic until transparent.
3. Add pieces of potatoes and pumpkin. Cook for several minutes and stir occasionally.
4. Cover the veggies with water and bring to a boil.
5. Cook for approx. 20 minutes. When the veggies are tender, turn off the stove and remove the pot from the heat.
6. Use a blender until the soup has a creamy texture. When the texture is too thick, add some warm water and blend again.
7. Season with salt and black pepper and add nutmeg. Blend again.
8. Serve with roasted pumpkin seeds and bread.
👵🧡 Grandma Sita’s tips:
*Pumpkin soup is a crowd-pleaser and a great dish for prepping meals in advance. You can also store leftovers portioned in the freezer for whenever you need a quick but healthy meal.
*Roast pumpkin is so versatile you can add it to almost any dish, from creamy pasta to risotto, roast dinners, pastries, and pies.
*Pumpkins are often used to make jack-o-lanterns for Halloween feast. Instead of throwing your pumpkin scraps in the bin, keep them as leftovers to make a meal (soup, cake) or pop them in the freezer. If you save the seeds for roasting, nothing will go to waste! After Halloween, smash your pumpkin into small pieces and add them to your garden compost bin.
📗 Native to North America, pumpkins are one of the oldest domesticated plants, having been used as early as 7,000 to 5,500 BC. Characteristics commonly used to define “pumpkin” include smooth and slightly ribbed skin and deep yellow to orange colour.
🍂🌎 Eating local and seasonal fruits and vegetables helps to reduce food waste, saves resources, improves food quality and healthy habits, and boosts the local economy.