It’s that time to cozy up to the goodness of healthy and comforting soups. I’m obsessed with anything pumpkin – why?
Benefits of Pumpkin & Sage
- Energy healing for the Sacral Chakra: It helps with the letting go process of what no longer serves your best self; it can activate the feminine energy of creation, flow, and pleasure; and it also provides healing to the womb.
- Rich in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants: Pumpkin is incredibly healthy. Its nutrients and antioxidants boost your immune system, protect your eyesight, and promotes heart and skin health. In fact, eating this vibrant veggie can reverse sun damage by up to 99.9%!
- The cleansing properties of sage works within the body’s energy like magic – when you eat this soup you can literally feel all the lower frequencies/negative energies go away. It also helps to treat skin problems, has anti-inflammatory properties, improves mental performance, and contains essential vitamins. High in fibre, pumpkin also decreases bad fats in the blood, lowers blood glucose, and is a natural remedy for indigestion.
Pumpkin Sage Soup Recipe 🌿🥣
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp. coconut oil
- 1 large red onion, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tsp. coriander seeds
- 1 tsp. chili powder
- 2 Tbsp. dried sage, more or less to taste
- 2 celery stalks, chopped small
- 3 carrots, chopped small
- 2 small potatoes, chopped small
- 2 tsp. of vegetable bouillon broth powder
- 4 cups of water
- 6 cups of pumpkin purée (fresh or canned)
- 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
- 2 tsp. Himalayan salt
- 1 tsp. black pepper
- Fresh sage leaves for topping
Instructions
- In a large stock pot, heat coconut oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; sauté for about 3-5 minutes. Add coriander, chili powder, sage, celery, carrots and potatoes; sauté for 5 minutes.
- Add bouillon powder, water, pumpkin, lemon juice, salt and pepper; stir to combine. Bring to a boil; immediately reduce to medium-low and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened.
- Let soup cool right down, then in batches purée in a blender or Vitamix. Can return to the pot and warm it up again. Taste to see if it needs more salt or pepper. Can garnish with fresh chopped sage, croutons, Italian Bomba, chili oil/flakes, or anything to your liking.
Fresh Pumpkin Puree
Note: When buying your pumpkin, use a “pie pumpkin”, as the large Halloween ones are too fibrous.
How to make: Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Cut the pumpkin in half. I slice from the bottom to stem, stopping at stem as it is too hard to cut through. Separate the halves till it snaps in half, then just cut out around the stem. Scoop out the “innards” and discard unless you want to cook the seeds. Place halves cut side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Roast for about 40 minutes or until a knife slices through it easily. Let cool and scoop out the pumpkin.
**This is my version of the original recipe from Candice Hutchings’ cookbook, “The Edgy Veg”.
Festive PLANT-BASED Sausage Rolls Recipe 🥖
Ingredients
- 1 pkg. of Tenderflake Puff Pastry (check package for thawing instructions)
- 4 of the Very Good Butchers bratwurst sausages
- ¼ cup cranberry sauce (I used canned)
- ¼ cup minced onion
- ¼ cup minced celery
- 1 tsp. poultry seasoning, more or less to taste
- 6 to 8 slices of leftover bread, torn into small pieces (or as much needed to make stuffing)
- ¼ cup veggie broth
Instructions
- Mix bread pieces with onion, celery, and seasoning. If there are too many veggies, add more bread pieces. Using the broth a little bit at a time, mix the ingredients into a doughy ball…and the stuffing is made.
- Roll out on a floured counter half package of puff pastry, about a 12” x 10” rectangle. Lay 2 sausages down tip-to-tip. Take half the stuffing and roll it against the sausages. Then with a small spoon, take a little cranberry sauce and scoop on top to cover the width. Now take the pastry and roll up the sausages, stuffing, and sauce to make one long log.
- Cut the log into 1” pieces and lay each piece flat on a parchment lined baking tray. Bake at 375°F (190°C) for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
- Now do the same instructions with the other half of the pastry, sausages and stuffing.
If you try this recipe, let me know! Tag your photo @umasveganeats or #umasveganeats on Instagram. I’d love to see your photos!
