Dr. Salerno – The Silver Cloud Diet

Recipe: Easy Vegetarian Soup Beginning with Nutrient Dense Pumpkin

I had to hunt and hunt for a pumpkin to make this soup for a Boxing Day party, but I finally found a couple.  You could easily substitute winter squash,  or, in a pinch, use canned pumpkin.  But the main idea is to create a soup to make a satisfying lunch with a punched up flavor.  This soup uses mole paste which is sold in grocery stores in the Mexican food section in a small jar.  There are a couple brands.  The one I used was Dona Maria.  But this is a flavor powerhouse and works as well in a vegetarian soup as it does with chicken or turkey.

Roast Pumpkin Mole Soup

6 cups pureed pumpkin flesh*

2 tablespoons mole paste

1/2 cup water

4 cups buttermilk

4 garlic cloves, smashed

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Combine ingredients in a large soup pot and heat to a simmer and cook about 15 minutes.  Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper.

Pepita Topping

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/3 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

1/3 teaspoon ancho chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon salt

Stir ingredients together then spread on a cookie sheet and roast in a 325 degree oven until brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a small serving bowl and reserve.

Lime Sour Cream Topping

1 cup sour cream

grated zest of one lime

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 tablespoon snipped chives

sea salt to taste

Stir together and set aside in a small bowl.  When serving the soup, ladle soup into bowls then add a topping of sour cream topped with spicy pepitas.  Yum.

* To roast pumpkins,  jab holes in the skin and roast in the oven until tender, up to an hour.  Remove from the oven.  Cool to the touch.  Then scoop out seeds and membrane.  Using a big spoon scoop out roasted flesh into a food processor and puree.  Yield 6 cups