Chili Pumpkin Pasta Sauce

When it gets cold out all I ever want is pasta (with red wine).  I decided to put my leftover pureed pumpkin to good use and make pasta sauce.  There was a lot of flavor crossover between this dish and the pumpkin hummus I made a few nights ago -- but I wanted to make the sauce a bit spicier.

Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat pasta
1/2 cup pureed pumpkin
1/2 cup chicken stock (can add more/less depending on how thick you want your sauce)
2 tbsp EVOO
1/2 tbsp Bragg's seasoning (for Rosemary)
1/2 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 tbsp Sriracha chili garlic sauce
1/2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup canned chickpeas (optional)

While the whole wheat pasta was cooking, I put all of the sauce ingredients into a sauce pan and simmered for 10 mins.  The pumpkin sauce would've been great alone, but I wanted some added protein, so I threw in the chickpeas.

Here's the final product:

Of course, I added some extra Parmesan on top. It was SO good. The sauce was perfectly spicy and creamy and the chickpeas added some nice texture to the dish.  This blog is becoming a bit of a chickpea overload - But they're such an easy and versatile meal addition and they're extremely filling. I don't like to eat much meat, so chickpeas are a great solution (and cheap). Yum!

Savory Rosemary Pumpkin Hummus

The other day I stocked up on pumpkin puree at the grocery store - Tis the season of PUMPKIN. It seems to be in everything right now, so I knew I could put it good use. As I've mentioned, you can mix just about anything into hummus and tonight it was pumpkin.

Here's what I started with:
1 cup organic canned pumpkin puree
1 can (15 oz) canned chickpeas (rinsed and drained)
3 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup sesame tahini
1 tbsp crushed garlic
1 tbsp cinnamon
Juice from one lemon
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp chopped rosemary

Seasoning to taste:
Salt & Pepper
Bragg's Sprinkle Seasoning

One step magic: throw everything in a food processor and you are done.  This hummus is perfectly sweet and savory.  I sprinkled the Bragg's on top for extra Rosemary flavor.  It's perfect for holiday parties this time of year. Enjoy!

Spicy Avocado Hummus

After a big weekend of eating I wanted something light and fresh for dinner. I'm a huge fan of dips. They're delicious, but I also love dips because they bring such a social element to a meal. Everyone can gather around dips while casually chatting and eating. 

Hummus is one of my favorite dips. I lovelovelove hummus.  Hummus is great because it is so versatile. You can dip just about anything in it and mix so many different flavors and spices in. Also, it doubles as an amazing spread on sandwiches. It had been awhile since I had made homemade hummus. Tonight was the night.  I got all of the ingredients and found that I had a very ripe avocado in my kitchen, so I decided to make an avocado hummus - a little hybrid of guacamole and hummus.

Ingredients:
1 can of garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
3 cloves chopped garlic
1/2 cup arugula
2 tablespoons parsley
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons tahini  (I'm not a huge tahini fan - feel free to add in as much as 1/4 cup)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 small avocado

Spices to taste:
Cayenne pepper, paprika, Sriracha hot sauce, salt & pepper

First, I put the chickpeas, garlic, lemon juice, and 1 tbsp EVOO in the food processor until smooth.

Then, I threw the rest of the ingredients into the food processor -- You could do it all together, but I wanted to taste what the guacamole, arugula, parsley, tahini, and EVOO mixture tasted like on it's own. No suprise here, it was delicious and worth eating as is.

Here's both the chickpea mix and avocado mix before blended together:

I combined both in the food blender while adding 2 dashes of cayenne pepper and slowly mixing in the sriracha to taste. I like it spicy and added about 1/2 tablespoon. As a sidenote, some other spices I think would be really good in here: cumin or curry powder.

I served my hummus with paprika sprinkled on top and dipped celery, carrots, and sea salt baked lentil chips in.  The final product was so delicious - creamy, filling, and perfectly spicy. A great dip for so many occasions.

Charleston Lovin'

I'm very lucky to have a sister that goes to school in Charleston, South Carolina. Charleston is one of those cities that you're beginning to hear more and more about - Conde Nast Traveler even named it the #1 City in the US, but I still don't think I would've made it down there had it not been for my sister going to College of Charleston. This past weekend was my third trip down South and it was a good one.  

One of my favorite things is putting on my running shoes and exploring a city by foot.  My little sister, being the college student she is, sleeps later than me, so I used the mornings to walk around and find new places. Saturday morning I ran towards the water and found myself at The Battery - a park at the tip of Charleston's peninsula. There's nothing better than a morning run along the water:

We walked the city for the rest of the day. First stop: the Farmer's Market.  I got an awesome smoothie with beet, pear, banana, kale and spinach.  I was skeptical of the beets at first but it was amazing! Perfectly sweet and the beet was very subtle.

It was so fun to check out all of the different booths at the market and everyone was so nice. A major highlight was discovering Nutty Goodness - An amazing raw fruit and nut bar which I proceeded to buy 5 bags of. Good news is that they ship all over the country! I also loved this homemade pasta vendor. Check out this impressive spread: 

Next we went to the Charleston City Market, an awesome strip of vendors with art, trinkets, and food. Here's a gem I found:

We had a late lunch at a cute spot, Eli's Table. My dad got the "Low Country Eggs Benedict" - with spinach and fried oysters - to die for. I think I fell in love with fried oysters this weekend.

The architecture is unreal in Charleston and it's absolutely one of my favorite parts about the city. There's so much color and history.  It's the most charming place I've ever been. I became slightly obsessed with the colors and window treatments - Here's a collage of all of my favorite windows: 

Saturday Night we went to Grill 225 in the Market Pavilion Hotel for dinner - unbelievable fish and steakhouse.  The hotel also has a fun rooftop pool and bar that is worth checking out. Their specialty is a liquid nitrogen martini - They come extra cold, steaming, and with a warning label. I got the cucumber lemonade vodka 'nitrotini'. Kind of hilarious but it got the job done. 

Our last stop for the night was Kaminsky's, a dessert bar. All they serve is alcohol and dessert. AMAZING. I think this place is pure genius and I might open up my own version. I opted for some Hob Knob Pinot Noir and Pumpkin pie - heaven.

I think that's a pretty good round up of my Charleston weekend. It has definitely become one of my favorite destinations. Until next time Chucktown!