Megans Munchies » pumpkin

Autumn Pumpkin Orzo

megan — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 21:50:00 +0000

I found this wonderful Autumn orzo last weekend at a craft fair. It is a combination of pumpkin, sage, and chestnut orzo. I searched for the perfect recipe to use it in, and I found it! I might use more pasta next time, because it seemed a little too saucy to me. The flavors that blend in this recipe are amazing. Check out the Pappardelle’s Pasta site. They have tons of recipes and a wide variety of flavored pastas, including chocolate linguine!

Pumpkin Orzo

recipe link at RecipeZaar

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup orzo pasta

Directions

In a medium saucepan, combine chicken broth, pumpkin, butter, honey, balsamic vinegar, ginger, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add orzo. Reduce heat to low, and simmer, stirring frequently, for about 15 minutes, or until orzo is tender. Serve immediately

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Fall Hummus

megan — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:23:00 +0000

I love hummus! In the Fall, I like to make pumpkin hummus to spice things up a little bit! It tastes wonderful on pita bread and chips, but it also makes a great sandwich spread. I use the following recipe, but I substitute canned garbanzo beans.

Pumpkin Hummus

link at Allrecipes.com
1 3/4 cups dry garbanzo beans
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
5 fluid ounces lemon juice
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup tahini paste
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
salt to taste

DIRECTIONS
Place the garbanzo beans into a large container and cover with several inches of cool water; let stand 8 hours to overnight. Or, bring the beans and water to a boil in a large pot over high heat. Once boiling, turn off the heat, cover, and let stand 1 hour. Drain and rinse before using.
Place the soaked garbanzo beans into a large saucepan and cover with several inches of water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the garbanzo beans are tender, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Once cooked, refrigerate the beans and liquid until cold.
Drain the garbanzo beans, reserving the cooking liquid. Place the beans and 1/2 cup of the reserved cooking liquid into a blender, and puree until a smooth paste forms. Add the pumpkin puree, lemon juice, olive oil, tahini, garlic, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. Cover and puree again until smooth. Use additional cooking liquid as needed to achieve a smooth consistency. Season to taste with salt.

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Polenta Happiness!

megan — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:22:00 +0000

I was so happy to learn that my Black Bean Pumpkin Polenta Chili won the Blogger Secret Ingredient contest this week. Thanks RhodeyGirl for picking Polenta! Check out all the other wonderful Polenta recipe entries. I can’t decide which one to try first!

Halloween Cupcake Fun

megan — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 16:59:00 +0000

I couldn’t wait any longer ! I had to make some Halloween cupcakes! I tried a new idea that I have seen floating around the Internet: adding pumpkin to chocolate cake mix for a moist chocolate cupcake/muffin! The results were delicious and lower fat than using oil and eggs! Of course, I cancelled out any low fat qualities of these cupcakes by adding frosting…oh well!! I used Pillsbury’s Halloween frosting and some fun edible images I bought at Target. I plan to take some of these to work for the kids to enjoy tomorrow!

Pumpkins and Apples

megan — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:13:00 +0000

I found this new product at Whole Foods yesterday. This natural applesauce in a pouch is perfect for me, because I can use a little bit in my oatmeal and then reseal it. This comes in apple and apple strawberry flavors. I bought the apple strawberry and it was delicious. When I was reading the product site, I discovered that the pouches were designed by NASA. Check out the Materne website.

Of course, the applesauce made me start to wonder about pumpkin/apple combinations. I couldn’t find any pumpkin applesauce recipes, but I did find these intriguing recipes for pumpkin apple butter.

Pumpkin Apple Butter 1

Pumpkin Apple Butter 2