I’m back in the sunny UAE after my amazing (yet ridiculously short) trip to UK. I was in Scotland for a grand total of 45 hours and 30 minutes…what can I say I love my sister. I had theee best time with my family, some of which I haven’t seen since winter last year, and of course celebrating my not-so-little-anymore sisters 18th birthday. HP HS (we forgot to get leaves)!!!!!
It may not as sunny as Abu Dhabi, but still absolutely beautiful – I LOVE autumn in Scotland and every time I go back I realize how much I took the scenery for granted (along with a lot of other things/people), I really miss all the fall colors and even the chill in the air. Every time I step of the plane I think to myself how nice it is to breath in fresh air…and then I get cold and frustrated and want to get through passport control ASAP, but still, I miss it 🙂
Oh I also got to try the new Starbucks mulled fruit drink everyone seems to love back home – delish. I think I will try make my own soon…
Anyway I’m back now with me and it turns out I have ‘fall fever’ as I randomly bought a pumpkin last night, determined to come with something tasty. ‘Buy now, think later’ has always been a pretty bad habit of mine but not on this occasion, I have made a creamy, delicious vegan pumpkin and cinnamon soup and I regret NOTHING. It is so easy to make and extremely low in fat and good for you, all my favorite things.
So many people ask me ‘does it not feel weird eating hot soup in a hot country’. No, it doesn’t. I have an AC fan above my head at work which feels like it is blasting wind from the North Pole onto me all day long, so no, it is not weird it is very comforting. Eating it on the beach would be weird.
Pumpkin has a lot of nutritional value too, a lot more than I realized. They provide you with vitamin A & C which is great for your immune system, eyes and skin. They also contain more potassium than bananas so a great natural source of energy for a pre/post work out dish.
My vegan pumpkin soup recipe takes longer than most of my food on the blog just to pre-warn you, but it is so worth it! You don’t have to serve the soup in the pumpkin soup bowl either, but I will share how you do that to if you are feeling adventurous.
- 1 large pumpkin if making the pumpkin bowl OR 2 cups of chopped pumpkin
- ½ white onion
- 1 glove of garlic
- ½ cup of almond milk
- 1 veggie stock cube
- ½ cups of chopped carrots
- 2 tbsp. of coconut oil
- 3 cups of water
- 2 tbsp. of coconut cream (optional but recommended!)
- 1 tbsp. of cinnamon
- 1 tsp. of nutmeg
- Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees
- Cut the top off the pumpkin and scoop out all the fibre and seeds, roast both the empty pumpkin and the lid in the oven for 20 minutes
- Simply roast the pumpkin pieces in coconut oil for 20 minutes
- If you want to add pumpkin seeds for presentation of just to snack on, you can also cook them for 30 minutes
- Chop the garlic and the onion and sauté in 1 tbsp. of coconut oil in a big soup pot until the onion has started to turn transparent
- Remove pumpkin from the oven
- If you made the pumpkin bowl, scoop as much pumpkin flesh from the inside as possible while still leaving a thick bowl
- Add 3 cups of water and the veggie stock to the pot along with the chopped carrots and cooked pumpkin and boil for another 20 minutes
- Add the remaining coconut oil, cinnamon, nutmeg and almond milk and blend (either a hand blender or a food processor will work)
- Before serving, season and add a tbsp. of coconut cream and your seeds to each bowl, enjoy!
It smells and tastes so good. A big bowl, of autumn comfort, where ever you are in the world! Oh and if you can, save 2 tablespoons of your roast pumpkin, I have a Warm Vegan Pumpkin Spiced Drink coming soon and you HAVE to taste it.
Enjoy your soup!
Jess x
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