I am in love with the beauty I see in tonight’s dinner. Does that make me a complete foodie or what? I looked forward to making this meal all day, and I find beauty in my food. Yup, sounds like a foodie. 
On Saturday when I was at lunch with some fellow bloggers at Infusion Tea, I thought Katy and Megan’s meals looked wonderful. They had a salad with pears, gorgonzola (I think), a pecan crisp and a balsamic glaze, as well as pumpkin soup. Ever since I have wanted to create my own pumpkin soup and replicate that salad (dairy and nut free of course) and tonight was the night.
Pumpkin Soup
- 1 very small sweet onion, finely minced
- 2 large cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 2 cups plain almond milk
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon dried ginger
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- salt to taste
Saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil until onion is soft and trasparent. Add the remaining ingredients and stir until heated through. Blend if desired, but if your onion and garlic is as finely minced as mine, it won’t be necessary.
I drizzled mine with a tiny spoonful of coconut milk creamer and balsamic reduction. So fancy!
My salad was also quite pretty! Field greens with pears that I simply dusted with cinnamon and roasted, pomegranate arils and a balsamic reduction (put balsamic vinegar in a pot and reduce! You may want to add a drizzle of agave or honey).
I also tried to make an almond crisp on the side (1/2 cup raw almonds, ground, mixed with 2 Tablespoons agave) but I kind of burned them. So I didn’t eat it. Next time I would probably try to make an almond “brittle” ahead of time, or just use plain raw almonds.
Such a beautiful meal! Alright, time to go start some cookies. My sister-in-law Jordan is almost here so I’m going the extra hostess mile by baking fresh cookies. 
(Ok, really, I have an intense monthly chocolate craving that hit today, if you catch my drift).
By the way – I did pull a Megan style exercise by doing 45 minutes on the stationary bike with flip flops. I definitely got a few looks, but hey, at least I was at the gym!
Catch you all tomorrow, which I have off for Veteran’s Day! Do you have work or school tomorrow?
That soup and salad combo looks divine! I love how “fancy” you made it – and the ingredients are fantastic… great job on din girl
My gosh you do amazing things with food! It looks just like Infusion Tea! Can I come live with you??
BEAUTIFUL creation!
That soup looks gorgeous! i’ve just started reading your blog and love it!
that is the prettiest meal ever! def looks straight out of a restaurant
mmm I love me some pumpkin soup! we made a similar recipe, except at that end we strained it, and it really brought all the flavors together and REALLY smoothed it out. We also used 2 real baking pumpkins (an adventure) yum yum! Our recipe suggested making a type of cinnamon toast for dipping…. heavenly!
oh cinnamon toast would be AWESOME with it!
Wonderful eats — it looks beautiful
Nice presentation, it looks gourmet!
I have to do HW and run errands. That food is absolutely gorgeous. Great photography and staging!
Your meal looks so fancy–love it!
wow that soup looks amazing girl!
Wow! What a beautiful meal! Looks too good to eat! Yup, you ARE a foodie
Wow that looks like something you could get at a restaurant! Love it!
Yesss you got the salad ingredients right, girl!!
I want to try your pumpkin soup! I starred it in google reader for future usage (near future).
I’m proud of you for wearing flip flops to the gym. Did you feel stylish? HAHA.