Creamy Southwestern Pumpkin and Sausage Soup - DAIRY FREE

This is by far my most popular pumpkin recipe to date.

1 lb sweet Italian sausages
1 small onion - finely diced
1 jalepeño pepper - de-seeded and finely diced
4 cloves garlic - minced
1 TBS extra virgin olive oil
3 TBS flour
2 cups homemade pumpkin puree
4 cups homemade chicken stock
3 tsp dried oregano
3 tsp ground cumin
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp black pepper
2 bay leaves
13.5 oz can unsweetened coconut milk.
1 tsp lime juice
Fresh cilantro (optional) - garnish

1. In soup pot: brown sausages. Remove from pan and slice in fourths lengthways and dice.
2. Add olive oil to sausage grease. Sauté onion, jalapeño, and garlic. Add flour to make a roux.
3. Add spices, chicken stock and pumpkin.
4. Cover and simmer 25 minutes stirring occasionally
5. Remove bay leaves.
6. Blend soup with immersion blender.
7. Add sausage, coconut milk and lime juice.
8. Cover and simmer 15 minutes.

Adapted from Jan's sushi bar  and A Spicy Perspective's recipes.

Food Storage: Onions

Onions and I have come to an understanding. I couldn't stomach buying one at a time for $1.00 each only to find the recipe I wanted to make calls for 1½ onions. To buy a bag of 10 for $2.50 was a daunting commitment. Not to mention, a bag of rotting onions is the worst smell imaginable. Coincidentally, it seems that onions are magical in that one day they are fine and the next they are rotten...usually THE day I decided to make French Onion Soup. C'est la vie

Today I will share with you a little secret: how to store onions. I came across this tip the old fashioned way...from a fellow lover of ease and freezers - my mom.

First dice or slice the onions. I do both because I have some recipes for diced and some for sliced. Save your scraps!

L to R: scraps, whole, diced

Next line a cookie sheet with plastic wrap and spread a layer of cut onions:

Flash freeze. I throw them in for as long as I feel like it but at least 20 minutes. Flash freezing prevents them from forming a solid clump and allows for measuring while frozen later.

Pull up the edges of the plastic wrap.

Pour into a gallon size zip top freezer bag: 

Freeze immediately. Add more until full or stop there. Use as required but keep frozen. If allowed to thaw they will re-freeze in a solid clump making it impossible to measure them out unless you completely thaw the whole batch. 

I do not know how long these keep. I have never had them go bad. Although onion day is a tearful one, at least it comes so rarely.

For the scraps (not the dried up peels), you have three choices:

1. Throw them in the crockpot with a chicken carcass, water, and apple cider vinegar for 24+ hours to create a delicious and healthy bone broth out of garbage
2. Place them in a freezer zip top bag with your other veggie/fresh herb scraps (specifically carrots, celery, rosemary, thyme, parsley that will go bad before you use them) for a later use in a broth.
3. Throw them in the garbage

Coconut rice

1 TBS Butter
1 cup jasmine rice
1 can coconut milk+ enough water to equal 2 1/4 cups liquid

1. Melt butter in sauce pan
2. Add rice and stir until coated
3. Add liquid and bring to boil over high heat
4. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is tender, about 18-20 minutes

Adapted from different recipes around the web and from friends.