Chipotle-Pumpkin Black Bean Soup

 Hey Ladies! We are big fans of soup this time of year at our house. I have been craving pumpkin anything, and decided to try this soup from EveryDay with Rachel Ray Magazine. It was really good! And, super duper easy and quick to throw together. I baked 2 chicken breasts earlier in the day, and shredded them to add to the soup. (Around here, it's not much of a meal unless it has some MEAT.) It was a tad on the spicy side for the kids with a whole chipotle...I think next time I'd use a smidge less of that or at least leave out the seeds. They ate it, I just gave them a bit more  sour cream and tortilla chips to tame it down. I skipped the apple salsa, I'm sure it would've been good, but I just didn't do it. You could also skip the fancy cranberry sour cream and just use a dollop of regular sour cream or plain yogurt. It was good, but an ingredient you don't really have to have. It says it feeds 4, but we had enough for the two of us (we each had two bowls) and the two kids, and we each will have a bowl for lunch tomorrow. Yummy!

• 4 Servings
• Prep 10 min

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 2 large cloves garlic, grated or finely chopped
• 1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce, finely chopped, 1 tablespoon sauce reserved
• 1 bottle Mexican beer, such as Negra Modelo
• One 15-ounce can pure pumpkin puree
• 1-1/2 teaspoons ground cumin (1/2 palmful)
• 2 pinches ground cinnamon
• Salt and pepper
• 3 cups chicken broth (I only used 2 cups, I like my soup a little on the thick side)
  
• One 15-ounce can black beans, drained
• 1 green apple, finely chopped
• 1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
• 1 jalapeño chile, seeded and finely chopped
• 1/3 cup finely chopped cilantro (a generous handful)
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup whole berry cranberry sauce
• Corn tortilla chips (a couple of generous handfuls), lightly crushed (optional)

Directions:

1. In a soup pot, heat the EVOO, 2 turns of the pan, over medium-high heat. Add the yellow onion, garlic and chipotle with its sauce and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes. Add the beer and cook until reduced by half, 3 minutes. Stir in the pumpkin, cumin, cinnamon and salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the chicken broth and beans and simmer for 10 minutes.
   
2. In a small bowl, combine the apple, red onion, jalapeño, cilantro and lime juice. In another bowl, combine the sour cream and cranberry sauce.
   
3. Serve the soup in bowls and top with the apple salsa, cranberry sour cream and tortilla chips, if using.
   

Tortellini Sausage Soup

I have a new favorite recipe blog, designed by our friend, Shannon....Our Best Bites! Love all the recipes on it. I've made this soup twice in the last week and we all LOVE it!

Click HERE for the recipe!

Easy Chili Pie

If you're not completely sick of beans after last week's rice and beans fast, this recipe is a perfect fall or winter meal. I got it from a Real Simple magazine a few years ago and it's been a favorite in our house ever since!

1 lb. sweet Italian chicken sausage, casings removed
1 T. chili powder
2 15-oz. cans of kidney beans in sauce (I usually use chili beans instead-not canned chili, just chili beans)
1/2 cup hot salsa
1 8-1/2 oz. box of corn bread mix, plus required ingredients (like Jiffy)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1.) Heat oven to 400 degrees.

2.) Cook sausage over medium heat in an oven-safe skillet (such as cast iron), breaking up the meat until it's no longer pink. Drain the fat.

3.) Add chili powder and cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute. Add beans and salsa. Heat to boiling.

4.) Meanwhile, prepare corn-bread mix according to the label directions. Stir in cheddar cheese.

5.) Remove chili from heat and spread corn-bread mixture over the chili.

6.) Place skillet in the oven and bake 15-20 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

If you don't have a cast iron or oven-safe skillet, you can also transfer the chili to a casserole dish before it goes into the oven.

Enjoy!