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1 Tbsp oil
1 small onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic – chopped or grated
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 Tbsp ground coriander seed
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
pinch cayenne pepper
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin puree
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup half-and-half or cream
In a large soup pot, pour the oil and put over medium heat, add onions and cook until soft. Add the garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, for 1 minute, then add the other spices, and stir together. Pour in the wine, and stir, cooking for 1 minute. Add the pumpkin puree and broth, stir and cook until heated through, about 4 or 5 minutes.
To make soup smooth, remove from heat and let cool slightly, then pour into food processor. Blend until smooth, then return to pot. (Or use a stick blender if you have one.) Put soup pot on low heat and bring back up to hot, but do not boil. Remove from heat and pour in half-and-half, stir, and taste for salt and other seasonings and add more if desired. You may also add a touch of sugar if you like to bring up the sweetness level. Cover and let stand 5 minutes so flavors blend well.
Serve warm with garnishes like roasted pumpkin seeds, crispy bacon crumbles, a dollop of yogurt or sour cream, and chives or parsley.
You can easily double or triple this recipe for a larger crowd. You will need to process it in several batches in the food processor if you do. This soup is rich and meant to enjoy in small portions, not large bowls.
Fire Up the Grill for Glamorous Gourmet Fruit Salads
We’ve been trying to keep our meals light and interesting, and our grill has played center stage. Now if you’re thinking that grilling is all about heavy meals of barbecued meats, you’ll be surprised what other foods actually are perfect for the grill.
1. Setting the Stage for Grilled Fruit Salads
If you’re mixing your grilled fruit in a green salad, be sure to choose your salad green carefully. Grilling adds a deeper flavor to fruit, so something hearty like arugula, romaine, watercress, or a mix of colorful greens might be best to form the bed of the salad and to compliment.
A grilled fruit salad also does well with a light vinaigrette dressing, made from basic ingredients like olive oil, salt and pepper, and your choice of vinegar. However, you might enjoy a creamy salad dressing made with honey and yogurt. Or perhaps a mixture of brown sugar, heavy cream, and red wine vinegar sounds tasty to you. There are plenty of possibilities to compliment your grilled fruit salad.
2. Choose Fruit that Suits the Grill
Once you’ve got the stage set, then it’s a matter of choosing fruits that grill well. Apricot halves are first up, combined with toasted nuts and thin slices of bacon, this makes a delightful gourmet twist with any salad green. Try grilling pineapple and mango slices, garnish with fresh mint leaves, and mix with crunchy cold butter lettuce for a surprising salad that will really please your dinner guests or family.
Even fruits like plums, watermelon, peaches, and nectarines are good to grill for salads and it doesn’t have to be a large salad of greens, either. For instance, cut watermelon into four inch squares and grill quickly on one side, flip and grill on the other side until you see grill marks form. Then serve on a bed of arugula and top with feta cheese, and drizzle balsamic vinaigrette over. You now have a gourmet salad with just a few ingredients. Grilling the watermelon makes all the difference.
A grilled fruit salad could also be exclusively made with grilled fruit. Try grilling a whole pineapple, cut lengthwise in half, treating the pineapple as the fruit bowl. Top with small pieces of fruit such as red pears, kiwi, bananas, or cactus fruit and set the grill on high, grilling just until the pineapple chars a little. Remove from the grill and serve as is or with a dollop of Greek yogurt. Both halves of the pineapple becomes the salad itself.
3. Mixing up Main Dishes With Grilled Fruit
For a heartier main dish, try putting chunks of fruit on a kabob skewer alternating with firm pieces of fish like halibut, swordfish, or salmon, or shrimp, scallops, or even pieces of chicken. Grill until everything chars a bit, then serve over brown rice. Most people expect kabobs to have vegetables, so the grilled fruit makes a nice surprise. Of course, some vegetables compliment certain fruit, as well. Sweet onion on the kabob adds a nice flavor contrast to pineapple, for instance. Just use your creativity when you put your fruit kabobs together for the grill.
Grilled fruit can also be a garnish for beef, chicken, fish, or even ham. Cut wedges of papaya, mango, pineapple, and maybe a red pepper and sweet onion, and grill until slightly charred. Then cool and cut into small pieces and toss together with a light vinaigrette. This grilled ‘fruit salsa’ makes a perfect garnish. Make it spicy or savory if you wish by adding hot sauce, a bit of cayenne pepper, or some fresh herbs.
4. Don’t Forget Grilled Fruit Desserts
A variety of fruits can be grilled to produce a tasty topping for ice cream, pound cake, or other treats. Grilled bananas topped with ice cream and caramel sauce is a favorite that comes to mind immediately. You can even put chunks of chocolate on while the bananas grill to create another layer of flavor.
Fruit compote made on the grill is another twist on a favorite. Rather than just boil or bake fruit pieces in a pan with a liquid, put the fruit on the grill on high heat, quickly grilling until you have grill marks and the fruit is softened. Move the fruit onto a piece of heavy duty foil, top with a mixture of brown sugar, butter, and honey. Then seal the foil into pouches and continue cooking on the grill until fruit is very soft. The grilling adds a whole new flavor to your traditional compote.
If you have never considered putting fruit on your grill, this is your chance to experiment. It’s surprising how many fruits cook up so well on the open pit. Once you have your fruit grilled, you’ll find all sorts of ways to enjoy them. You may become so hooked on grilling fruit that now find it will be hard to make room for the barbecued meat!
Ingredients:
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp paprika powder
10.5 oz skinless chicken breast, cut into strips
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1 avocado
Juice of 1 lime
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
4 large tortillas
About 1 cup natural yogurt
Handful of fresh cilantro
Instructions:
Place chicken strips in a small bowl. Mix together the chili powder and paprika and sprinkle over the chicken strips. Toss gently.
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and fry the chicken strips together with the onion slices until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink inside.
Meanwhile, cut the avocado into cubes and mix in the lime juice.
Divide the chicken mixture evenly between the tortillas, top with green bell pepper slices, avocado/lime, yogurt and sprinkle with cilantro. Roll up and enjoy this delicious and easy meal.
