Sweet-Hot Pumpkin Soup ... veganized!

If you like your pumpkin with punch, then have I got a soup for you!

This is a recipe I found in a non-vegetarian crockpot book. It seemed easy enough to veganize--I replaced the chicken broth with veggie broth, and the three tablespoons honey became three tablespoons agave nectar. The book says it serves five to six people. It took me about 20 minutes to prep the ingredients for the slow cooker. I saved a bit of time by using packaged shredded carrots instead of peeling and chopping my own.

I thought this soup was delicious! It almost had too much of a kick for me (I used one jalapeno), but I'm the person who thinks mild spice at Thai places is too "hot." LOL Personally, next time I'll only use half a jalapeno, but foodies who like it hot should definitely enjoy this dish! I had my omni sis sample this soup, too, during our Halloween pasta night, and she agreed it was tasty. She saved some for her hubby to try; she thought the spice temp would be perfect for him--lucky her, he likes it hot! ;-p

This cooked all day (nine hours) in the crockpot without crusting up the sides. :) I have leftovers for lunches later in the week... good thing, too, because it's supposed to get cold 'round these parts.

Crockpot Sweet-Hot Pumpkin Soup

1 - 16 oz. can pumpkin
4 cups (32 oz. carton) vegetable broth
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 tablespoons watercress, chopped
1 or 2 jalapeno chiles, seeded and chopped
3 tablespoons agave nectar
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Sauterne wine
watercress leaves for garnish

Combine all ingredients (except garnish) in crockpot and simmer on low for 9 to 9.5 hours, or until vegetables are soft. Puree soup in a blender or food processor. Reheat if needed or garnish with watercress and serve! Enjoy! :)

Up next: a lentil stew in the crockpot.

Hot and Spicy Shake N Bake Tofu

Double post today, because I feel so bad about not posting in such a long time. Tonight, I made myself this tasty dish--Shake N Bake Tofu over Brown Rice. Now, I kinda cheated cuz I didn't actually bake it... I fried it. But, next time I most definitely WILL bake it. This is the second time I've tried Shake N Bake with tofu, and it tastes great, but when frying it, I find that some of the crunchy flavoring tends to fall off quite easily. :-/

Anyhoo, for this recipe, I simply marinated some tofu slices in Italian dressing... then I coated the slices with Shake N Bake Hot and Spicy. Fried those up in a little bit of Olive Oil. While doing that, I fried up some day-old brown rice, and a frozen mix of peppers and onions. Combined it all together and... YUM! I really enjoyed this. I don't like my food too spicy, and this was just right in my book. :)