Pumpkin Hummus

I came up with a spicy twist for the ever so popular pumpkin hummus. If you're not afraid of a little heat in this chilly weather season, try it out. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. Pumpkin Hummus is a delightful dish to bring to potlucks or neighborhood Halloween parties. It tastes great with the usual accompaniments, such as veggies, crackers, pita bread, or tortilla chips. Try serving it in a small hollowed out pumpkin for a little whimsy. If you're leery of pumpkin possibly overpowering the hummus, don't be. Stick to the canned pumpkin puree (it's available as organic too) and you can't miss. You can find organic brand for all of the ingredients below.

1 can of pumpkin puree
1 can of chickpeas
1 chipotle pepper
4 tablespoons of lemon juice
2 tablespoons of olive oil
3 tablespoons of tahini
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
1 peeled garlic clove
1/4 cup of water (adjust to consistency preference)
1 peeled cucumber
1 small pumpkin hollowed out to use as serving vessel

Peel and slice the cucumber and let it sit in ice water about five minutes for ultimate crispness. Drain, set aside. Hollow out a small pumpkin, sprinkle interior with salt and pepper. Next, combine and puree all ingredients in a blender or food processor. Puree and transfer to pumpkin shell serving bowl. Serve over toast or bread of your choice, top with cucumber slice.

Eggplant

I love cooking with eggplant. Normally, I pick up the traditional purple variety from my local farmers market. I've tried the Japanese variety, but I prefer the plain old purple ones. Usually, after peeling and dicing it into cubes, I freeze the other half to save for another recipe. Here's one of my favorite eggplant recipes:

1 half of a cubed eggplant
16 ounces of shrimp
1 bunch of fresh basil
1 pint of whipping cream
1 cup of olive oil
5-6 cloves of garlic
angel hair pasta (any kind will do)
1/2 small onion
3 stems of green onion
1/2 green bellpepper
1 16 ounce can of diced tomatos

To make basil sauce, rinse and blend basil, garlic, olive oil and cream. Sautee onion, bellpepper, and green onion. Add shrimp and eggplant, sautee for 5 minutes until eggplant sweats, add diced tomatoes and basil sauce. Cook on medium fire for 20 minutes, simmer on low medium for an additional 10 minutes.