Hello October! If you need me you can find me at the bottom of  the never-ending pots of delicious homemade soup that have taken over my kitchen! I know these pictures are a bit blurry but trust me this soup looks and tastes crazy good. Give it a try. You won’t be sorry. This particular soup has now been added to my list of favourites. Serves 6-8

• Safflower oil, for frying
• 5 pieces of naturally smoked bacon, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 cups green cabbage, chopped
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• pinch or two of chipotle chili powder ( more or less depending on how much heat you want in your soup )
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 1 stalk of celery, chopped
• 1 red skinned potato, chopped into bite sized pieces
• 1 can diced tomato
• 1 can white kidney beans
• 4 cups veg broth
• 1/3 cup mixture of parmesan and asiago
• salt and pepper to taste
• additional bacon and cheese to top ( optional )

Heat about 1 tbsp of oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook for a few minutes, letting it brown. Add a couple more tbsp of oil along with the onion and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally until softened. Add the cabbage and cook for 5 minutes, continuing to stir occasionally. Add the spices, carrots, celery and potato. Cook for another 5 minutes. Add the tomato, beans and broth. Feel free to add a little salt and pepper if you like. Bring the soup to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer for 30-40 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the parmesan/asiago. Using an immersion blender, pulse until desired consistency. Spoon into bowls and top with a bacon bits and a sprinkle of parmesan. Enjoy!

I came up with this recipe yesterday while brainstorming the millions of different types of tacos I could make for dinner. I just happened to have a butternut squash kicking around that needed to be eaten asap…and so the “pulled butternut squash taco” was born. This is another recipe in progress. Don’t take that the wrong way though, these taste amazing! I just mean I will definitely be playing around with it. I would like to make a healthier bbq sauce and maybe add a few tasty extras. So if you have a fave bbq sauce, feel free to swap it out for the recipe I used. Enjoy.

serves 8

PULLED BUTTERNUT SQUASH

4 cups butternut squash, shredded

1 red pepper, thinly sliced

1 green pepper, thinly sliced

1 large yellow onion, sliced in half moons

1 can of black beans, strained

safflower oil

BBQ SAUCE

3/4 cup ketchup

1 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp worcestershire sauce

1-2 tbsp honey

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp chipotle chili powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 1/2 tbsp mollases

1 tsp dijon mustard

salt and pepper to taste

TO MAKE BBQ SAUCE: Add all of the above bbq sauce ingredients in a medium sized bowl and whisk until blended.

TO MAKE THE PULLED BUTTERNUT SQUASH: In a Cuisinart using the shredder attachment, shred the butternut squash. In a large pan ( preferably one with a lid ) heat the oil over medium heat.  Add the shredded squash, peppers and onion. Cook, covered, for 10 minutes stirring throughout. Add 2 tbsp of water and cook, covered for 5 min. Add the sauce, as much or as little as you like. Add the black beans and cook for 5 more minutes.

TO SERVE: Warm taco shell of choice ( I used a soft corn tortilla ). Spread a layer of crema. Pile on some pulled butternut and top with avocado, shredded cheese and sriracha.

WANT TO MIX IT UP A BIT? TRY ADDING ANY OF THE FOLLOWING TO YOUR TACO-

-Shredded red cabbage

-pickled jalapeno

-Fresh diced tomato

-turn it into a breakfast burrito and add some scrambled eggs!

This was the perfect thing to feed my exhausted husband after he finished a long day of portaging a canoe all over the city for Amici’s Canoeheads For Kids event.

Recipe adapted from Thug kitchen

• 3 cups cooked chickpeas
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 1 crown broccoli, chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 large lime

Spice blend:

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp chipotle chili powder
• 1 1/2  tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425. Chop the onion, red pepper and broccoli making sure they are all just a bit larger than the chickpeas. Mince the garlic and set aside. Toss all the veg in a large bowl along with the cooked chickpeas. Add the oil and soy sauce; now mix in the spices making sure everything gets coated evenly.

Place mixture on a large baking sheet ( or two ) and bake for 20 min. Remove from oven; flip the mixture and add the garlic and bake for another 15 min. At this point or maybe before this point you will probably think the mixture is burning and if you are like me you may be freaking the fuck out thinking the whole meal is going to be ruined and then you wont have anything to eat for dinner and you will have wasted all this food not to mention your time…if you are like me you may even take it out of the oven early and hum and haw over whether or not you should put it back and let it cook for the correct amount of time. PUT IT BACK – it will be fine, as Thug Kitchen says “it’s supposed to look that way”. Allow the mixture to finish baking; now take it out of the oven and squeeze the lime juice over mixture. Make your burrito. I used a little yogurt, some salsa, avocado, shredded carrots and cucumber. Enjoy.