Soup For Me

We woke this morning to rain.  Rain?!  At first I thought I was hearing things.  Figured in my tired brain that it was normal since I was in the North West - but wait I'm in sunny So Cal.  What a nice surprise!

We're having friends over for a very casual dinner tonight so why not soup?  I'm in!  In my cupboard I found a few cans of pumpkin puree, reasoned if we could have a cool rain in May I could eat pumpkin soup in the spring.  I pulled out a favorite and easy recipe from Rachel Ray's 30-Minute Veggie Meals (to buy go here) and just a few short moments later, soup for us all.  Link to recipe online found here.

Not sure if I can wait until our company shows!!

**Rachel's Pumpkin and Black Bean Soup

1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil (1 turn around the pan)

1 tablespoon butter

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 can (14 1/2 ounces) vegetable stock (or chicken if you're not a veggie)

1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes in juice

1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree

1/2 cup heavy cream 

1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

3 pinches cayenne pepper 

Course salt to taste

Heat a deep pot over medium heat.  Add oil and butter.  When butter melts add onions and sauté about 5 minutes until tender.  Add broth, tomatoes, black beans and pumpkin.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and stir in cream, curry powder, cumin, cayenne and a few pinches of salt.  Simmer 5 minutes, adjust seasonings and serve.  

** Please note the above recipe is from the cookbook, the recipe found online has a few small differences.  

Enjoy!

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