Pumpkin is loaded with health benefits! It’s full of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants. It is high in vitamin A and antioxidants, (alpha and beta-carotenes), it’s a good source of vitamins C, K, and E, and lots of important minerals, including magnesium, potassium, and iron. It’s as good for the skin also! Along with being loaded with enzymes and anti-oxidants, pumpkin is moisturizing to the skin and also soothes irritated skin due to it’s high zinc content.
Mix it with fresh papaya or honey and treat your skin to a 5 to 15 minute mask. I actually grind dehydrated papaya seeds with pumpkin seeds in a coffee grinder and add to my facial cleanser for dry, dehydrated winter skin.
I thought about all the wonderful pumpkin recipes we have been experimenting with since harvesting our pumpkins. Bread, cookies, smoothies, pie and pumpkin cheesecake, of course. We’ve tried it almost every way for a sweet, nutritious treat but what about a main course? It’s cold out! I want comfort food!
Here is a family-winning recipe (not an easy thing to do in MY family!). I made a double batch and it was devoured almost instantly!
This soup is so easy to make it left me wondering if that was really all there was to this recipe. The entire thing only took me 25-30 minutes including prep.
Warming Vegan Curried Pumpkin Soup
1 medium fresh pumpkin – seeded, peeled, chopped. (the easiest way to peel is cut into large chunks first, then use a vegetable peeler on smaller, easy to handle chunks.)
1 can Coconut milk OR 1 fresh young Thai Coconut, including meat and water
1-2 Apples, chopped
Fresh Ginger to taste, chopped or grated
1/2 teasp. White Pepper
1/2 teasp. Poultry seasoning
1 teasp. Curry powder,
1/2 teasp. Tumeric
1-2 cloves Fresh Garlic, chopped, grated or pressed
Agave to taste
pinch Sea Salt
In Vita Mix or food processor add pumpkin and some of the coconut water. Blend till smooth. Add apple, ginger, garlic and blend well. Follow by adding spices then a touch of agave if you like your curry sweetened a bit. (I used a LOT of fresh ginger which added a bit of a punch so the little sweetness of the agave was a nice compliment.
After blending well, leave Vita-Mix running long enough to “heat” the soup. (If you are using a food processor, you will need to transfer to a blender to get the smooth consistency. If you do not have a food processor, cut the chunks of pumpkin smaller and do small batches at a time. Add coconut water as you go for blending.
Pour into bowls or mugs and garnish with fresh chopped green onion, red bell pepper or fresh ‘chiffonade’ chopped spinach leaves.
Enjoy!
*This recipe would also be delicious over rice. I’m going to try it with sprouted quinoa.
Life Is Good Gluten Free 