Pumpkin Kale Black Bean Stew

Now that autumn's here, it's time for fall produce! At the farmer's market this week I got pumpkins, spaghetti squash, acorn squash, greens, some purple tomatoes that looked like chestnuts ...

For these chillier nights, I decided to make Pumpkin, Kale, Black Bean Stew - here's how I made it:

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small to medium sugar pumpkin, peeled, seeded, cut into large dice
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into large pieces
• 4 cups beef broth
• 1 tsp. turmeric
• 1 tbsp. paprika (or to taste)
• 1 (16 ounce) can diced fire-roasted tomatoes, undrained
• 1 tbsp. pumpkin butter (I use Trader Joe's)
• 1 bunch lacinato/dino kale, stems removed, chopped 
• Pinch of nutmeg
• 1 tsp. white pepper
• 1 fresh roma tomato (I just had one around and decided to use it)
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
• 1 bay leaf
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste
• Red pepper flakes to taste
• Dash hot sauce (optional)

Directions

1. Roast pumpkin in the oven at 325 for 45 min. or until tender when prodded with a fork. (I don't season the pumpkin or anything, just simply put the whole thing in the oven and let it roast away.) Remove pumpkin and let it cool enough to touch and then slice and scoop out the seeds and dice flesh into large chunks. *I save the seeds to bake later for snacking.
2. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a soup pot. Cook onion until it begins to soften. Add garlic and diced sweet potato. Season with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and turmeric, stirring around to distribute golden color throughout the onion pieces. Add a splash of water to the pot if the spices start to stick to the bottom, to bring up all the little bits.
3. Add the pumpkin and cook for another few minutes. Stir in the pumpkin butter, allowing the sweet pumpkin to coast the savory roasted pumpkin, and cook out. Season with salt and pepper. Then stir in the beef broth, tomatoes, and paprika. Bring heat up, then turn down to low and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.
4. Add the rinsed/drained/chopped kale and wilt into the broth. Season the kale with nutmeg and more pepper. Add the diced fresh tomato if you have it - adds a nice contrast to the smoky fire-roasted tomatoes and peppery broth.
5. After soup has simmered for 15 minutes, add black beans and bay leaf; simmer for another 5 minutes. Stir in the sherry vinegar and hot sauce; turn down the heat. Let the stew sit so the flavors combine.
6. Serve up the stew with some crusty bread to mop up the spicy broth - enjoy!

The Great Pumpkin

Halloween time evokes thoughts of sweets, of course, candy and and clever cupcakes and candied apples, sugar galore! Pumpkins turn into sweet breads, muffins and pies; it's a time for decadence. But October can also be a time for savory foods as well, such as the roasted acorn squash with sage brown butter I made this week, or my experimentation with the classic Halloween favorite: the pumpkin. Now I might not be Charlie, but this was a Great Pumpkin!

Here's the pumpkin process:

1) I carved out the pumpkin, scooping out and reserving the seeds. I toasted the seeds on a sheet pan at 350 degrees, sprinkled with salt, ground cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves to taste, shaking the seeds every few minutes to toast them evenly. I added pine nuts and almonds for an extra nutty crunch.

2) I put half the pumpkin seeds and nuts in a serving dish with extra salt for a savory snack (note pumpkin seeds are an excellent source of iron!) and spread the other half on the pan with a bit of maple oat granola. I melted caramel and poured it over the pumpkin seed mixture, letting cool for 5 minutes. Then I broke the hardened mixture into pieces: pumpkin seed brittle!

3) The next night I decided to use the hollowed pumpkin as a vessel for a hearty vegetarian dinner, my stuffed pumpkin creation. I started by cooking a cup of quinoa, grain-like seeds originating from the Andes, pairing the pumpkin flavor with an Incan staple to build a truly "New World" flavored dish. While the quinoa cooked I stirred in ground cumin, smoked paprika, and a pinch of curry to spice up the mild, nutty flavor. Once the water had boiled off I stirred in a spoonful of pumpkin butter to mirror the visual with the flavor, combining the spicy with a hint of sweet. I added diced hot red pepper and green onions and a bit of olive oil as I fluffed the quinoa with a fork. Then I added a dash of salt and squeezed half a lemon's fresh juice over top.

While cooking the quinoa I heated some olive oil in a heavy skillet on medium high and sauteed about half a diced onion until tender, adding minced garlic and drained garbanzo beans to the skillet. I added a little more cumin and a generous palmful of smoked paprika, stirring around to evenly distribute the spices. I tossed in crumbled walnuts to release their natural nut oils into the mixture and then a bag of baby spinach leaves, stirring to wilt the dark leafy greens into the spiced oil and proteins. *Fun fact: quinoa and spinach are both chenopods and thus closely related plant species. So are beets! (some of my personal veggie favorites) so they work well together in this dish.

For the pumpkin stuffing: I set the broiler on low and moved the oven rack down to the bottom third of the oven. Then I set the hollowed pumpkin in a shallow glass baking dish and filled it about half to 2/3 full with the spiced quinoa and topped it with the spinach mixture, surrounding the pumpkin with excess filling on the dish to create a nice presentation. I put the stuffed pumpkin in the oven about ten minutes, just to warm it through (note to not leave it in too long or the spinach becomes too crispy) and before serving I crumbled fresh feta cheese and a few parsley sprigs on top for garnish.


Not your typical ghoulish gourd ... but wonderfully delicious.

As quinoa is a complete protein and full of fiber, this is an incredibly nutritious meal. With the chickpeas and nuts this meal is filled with protein and vegetables, leaving you feeling nourished and satisfied (before the candy to come!)