Comfort Food Season

Try as I might, I just can't seem to get a handle on blogging. Every time I think I'm ready to post in a somewhat consistent manner, my intentions fall by the wayside. To those who continue to read my sporadic updates, thank you. I very much miss interacting with all of you, but my attention span for internet-things has been very limited these last six months. Most days I wake up already mentally and emotionally exhausted and the thought of trying to squeeze internet time into my routine is overwhelming. I wish it wasn't. I do plan on devoting an afternoon sometime in the near future to blog reading and reestablishing contact with all of you.

In the meantime, I do have both the time and concentration for an update. I cannot decide if that sentence should be left as is with a period or if an exclamation would be more appropriate. Haha.

So, it is well known (or, used to be!) around here that I love autumn. Though, I can never fully decide if autumn or spring is my favorite time of year, so I've stopped trying. Anyway, one of the greatest things about autumn is that it heralds in comfort food season. We all have those favorite dishes and treats that somehow taste so much better when there's a chill in the air. For me, it's my mother's macaroni and cheese and any of her homemade soups, as well as my father's goulash and beef stew. This is my favorite time of year to bake both pumpkin-oatmeal and carrot-honey cookies. And, I have something new to add to my list: pumpkin black bean chili. I know what you're thinking: pumpkin chili? Trust me, it's good! The flavor is smooth and subtle. Try it!

Pumpkin Black Bean Chili
Adapted from The Ordinary Vegetarian.

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 10 to 20-ounces mushrooms*, cleaned and diced
• 4 cups cooked black beans (or 2 15-ounce cans, rinsed and drained)
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 2 cups fresh pumpkin puree (or 1 15-ounce can)
• (2) 15-ounce or (1) 28-ounce can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes, with liquid
• 1 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• 1 1/2 tbsp. smoked paprika
• 3 tsp. chili powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 tsp. rubbed sage
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne
• 2 tsp. ground cumin

* I used baby portobellos, but small white/button mushrooms would be fine as well. Also, the mushroom quantity can easily be altered to your liking. I always say the more mushrooms the better! For this recipe, I used (2) 10-ounce packages.

Directions:

In a large soup pot, heat 1/4 cup water and add the diced onion. Saute for 3 minutes, or until translucent. Add the garlic and saute for an additional 2 - 3 minutes, until fragrant.

Add the mushrooms and saute for an additional 2 - 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the spices and stir to coat the onions and mushrooms. Saute for 1 - 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Pour in the broth  and allow to simmer for about 2 minutes.

Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Lower heat and cover. Simmer for 45 minutes stirring occasionally.