Pumpkin Pancakes

These are delicious and nutritious!

Serves 2-4 people (makes about 10 pancakes)

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour (use whole wheat pastery flour if you have it)

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk (skim, almond, rice or soy)

1 cup pumpkin puree

2 eggs

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice and salt. In a seperate bown combine the milk, pumpkin puree, eggs,  melted butter and vanilla, mixing until smooth. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, folding in with a spatula until just combined.

Heat frying pan over medium heat, add a little butter to grease the pan. Cook each pancake until lightly browned on each side. Top with pure maple syrup and enjoy!

Roasted Pumpkin Soup

We tested this Roasted Pumpkin Soup recipe from Martha Stewart Living and loved it! It is delicious, healthy and easy and makes great leftovers for work! You will start to find small, “sweet” pumpkins popping up all over the LA farmers markets. I got mine last week at the Santa Monica market on Saturday, from the guy with all the potatoes.

One of the best things about this soup is that it adds shiitake mushrooms, which are powerhouse nutrients for the immune system. It is so important to start incorporating shiitakes in to your diet as we move in to cold and flu season. And if you are serious about ramping up your immune system we recommend Avena Botanicals Immune Soup (it says “out of stock”, but I called and they have restocked).

Prep Time: 5 Min. Total Time: 40 Min. Serves 4

2 3/4 lbs sugar pumpkin or butternut squash, halved and seeded

1 onion, peeled and quartered

4-5 shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, caps wiped clean

2 garlic cloves, peeled

1/2 cup olive oil

Sea salt and pepper

5 cups homemade or store-bought low-sodium vegetable stock

1. Preheat oven to 450. Cut pumpkin into 2-inch pieces. Combine pumpkin, onion, mushrooms, and garlic on a rimmed baking sheet. Add oil and 2 teaspoons salt; toss to coat, then spread in a single layer. Roast until pumpkin is tender when pierced wit the tip of a sharp kinfe, about 30 minutes, rotating pan and tossing vegetables halfway through. Let cool, then remove skins.

2. Transfer vegetables to a medium saucepan; heat over medium. Pour 2 cups stock; puree with an immersion blender* until smooth. With blender running, slowly add remaining 3 cups stock, and puree until smooth. Bring soup just to a simmer. Remove from heat, and season with salt and pepper. Cover to keep warm.

Bonus Snack: You can also carve out a little space on the pan to roast the pumpkin seeds (try to get the pumpkin off them first) for about 15 min – a great snack while you wait!

*If you do not have an immersion blender, just blend the roasted veggies with some stock to liquify in a blender. Then add to a pot with remaining broth, stir together and heat.