Pumpkin Cornbread and Bean Broth Soup

Last night I tried a pumpkin cornbread recipe from tasty kitchen, which  I have to say is a pretty delicious though unusual combination - a bit more like pumpkin cornbread cake rather than a savory cornbread. Future recipe alterations may fix this though!  Little did I know when I started assembling the recipe that the scant amount of cornmeal remaining in my pantry would not fulfill the recipe requirements. So I did what an insane person would do - make up the difference with semolina and instant grits - and it worked!

I paired this with yet another genius use of leftover bean stock - from both a crockpot of black beans and a pot of chickpeas. Very economical as it also uses up a huge handful of leftover cilantro stems. I added quinoa for protein in the dish. Simple but taste effective.

Mexican Broth Soup

• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 3-5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 750g yogurt container of black bean broth (from crockpot black beans)
• 1 750g yogurt container of chickpea broth (from 1 c. chickpeas cooked with 2 cloves of garlic, 1-2 Tbs onion flakes and salt)
• 1-2Tbs cumin
• 1/2 c. quinoa, uncooked (or use ~1 c. already cooked)
• 1 bunch of cilantro stems, finely chopped
• canned chipotle pepper sauce (I just defrosted a jar of unused chipotle peppers from the freezer and spooned out about 3-4 Tbs of the sauce)
• 1 quart canned tomatoes and juice
• 1 1/2 c. frozen corn
• 1 29 oz can hominy

1. Saute the onions and garlic until nicely browned and cooked in a large soup pot. When they have caramelized and left a bit of residue on the bottom of the pan, pour in the two containers of broth. 
2. Add the cumin, cilantro stems, chipotle pepper sauce and quinoa in, bring to a boil and reduce to simmer until the quinoa is cooked. (if it's already cooked you can skip this step and throw everything in at once).
3. When the quinoa is tender, add in the corn, hominy and tomatoes.
4. Taste for flavors and adjust as needed.
5. Serve with a bit of sour cream, kefir cheese, or grated cheddar cheese. Some shredded cabbage would also taste lovely on top with a squeeze of lime and avocado chunks. Or you can keep it simple and eat it as is with a piece of pumpkin cornbread alongside.


Pumpkin Cornbread (from Tracy(sugarcrafter) on tastykitchen)
1 c. all purpose flour
1 Tbs baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp chili powder (optional)
1 tsp salt
1/2 c. brown sugar, not packed. *I would try reducing this to 1/4 c. brown sugar*
1 c. cornmeal
1 c. pumpkin puree
1/4 c. olive oil
1 1/2 Tbs molasses

1.Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and butter an 8×8″ baking dish.

2. Whisk together dry ingredients from flour to cornmeal.
3. In a small bowl, beat the eggs lightly and then beat in pumpkin, oil, & molasses.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, stirring just until combined and then pour the batter into the pan.
5. Bake ~30 minutes or until a toothpick test in the center comes out clean.