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Pumpkin Porcini Parsnip Soup @ Bis.Co.Latte (Hell’s Kitchen) [Review]

When I used to imagine life in New York, I had visions of Carrie Bradshaw’s brownstone, brunches with friends, and lazy afternoons in Central Park. Over the last two years in this city I’ve learned that while those things do exist, New York is also home to thousands of chain restaurants and dirty alleyways, and it can be hard to find those quaint coffeeshops that everyone seems to think of when they think of the Big Apple. I have a few days off this week due to transitioning jobs (!) and I have been trying to find as many of those small places as possible.

My mom came up to visit me yesterday and left a few short hours ago. This morning we took a walk over to the Hudson River (that’s the one on the West Side) and passed by a charming find – Bis.Co.Latte – it’s a biscotti and coffee shop in my new neighborhood.

Upon entering the shop I was greeted with a smiling face and a display of biscotti – there must be over a thousand of these cookies, in a so many flavors. To be honest I wasn’t there for the biscotti though. I’m simply a coffee girl through and through, and I have been avoiding grains lately anyway (paleo* thing).

So instead of a biscotti I picked up a homemade soup.

Pumpkin Porcini Parsnip Soup (vegan)

This was one of about 6 fresh soups they had available. They also had a pumpkin chili that I would like to try and a risotto menu. I asked about the porcini – they are mushrooms with a meaty flavor. My soup was a puree and it came with some multigrain bread that I decided to save for Bobby. They also packed in some pumpkin seeds for me to top it with (I got it to go and ate it at home). I believe you can get all of their soups vegan.

The soup was absolutely perfect – I didn’t need to salt or pepper it, and I finished the whole thing. It’s fairly pricey ($7.75 for just a soup – a fairly large portion) but it’s worth it… at least once in a while. I usually spend around that much for lunch anyway so this was a nice change. The pumpkin soup was surprisingly filling. It’s thick and creamy (they use soy milk) and a very homey fall meal. If you are in the area I definitely recommend checking out Bis.Co.Latte. Let me know if you try any of their baked goodies.

Do you like soup? Pumpkin soup? What’s your favorite fall meal?

I usually don’t eat soup because I don’t think it fills me up, but recently I have been trying to add it into my diet more. I love the way it makes my stomach feel (no bloating) and for some reason a hot soup can be super comforting on a chilly fall afternoon. Other recent soup adventures of mine have included carrot soup and veggie soup (both from Le Pain Quotidien) and a Shrimp Bisque (like a chowder) from Hale & Hearty.

*A note on paleo – I have been avoiding grains off and on (mostly avoiding) for the last year but have kept kind of quiet about that because I didn’t want to say something and then suddenly change my mind later. I think I would like to slowly go more paleo (like avoiding sugar better) but I’m totally ok with this being a verrrrry slow process. Paleo can be very meat-heavy and sometimes I have issues (morally) with eating such large amounts of animal flesh. So there you have it.

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Proteiny Healthy Pumpkin Pie? [Recipe]

A few months ago I was getting quite addicted to BodyRocking. It lasted a few weeks, and then I reverted to daily walks and yoga (as usual). I still subscribe to their feed though, and recently I bookmarked a pumpkin recipe to try. I changed it up based on what I had on hand and here is what I came up with.

Protein Pumpkin Pie Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 can pumpkin puree
  • stevia, to taste – this is hard to measure because each type of stevia is so different. Use your best judgement! Should be equivalent to 1/4 cup sugar.
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 4 medium eggs (these are smaller than normal eggs – I would use 3 Xtra large)
  • 1 packet protein powder (= 1 scoop = 30 grams; I used HempShake in Chocolate flavor)
  • butter for greasing a pan

Method

  1. Mix all ingredients together.
  2. Cook, covered, on low heat like a gigantic pancake in a buttered pan. Flip it after 5 minutes. Continue to cook for another 4-5 minutes.

This recipe was not actually meant to be cooked on the stove, and it came out ugly enough that I’m not going to gross you out with pictures. I promise though, it tasted really good. The reason for the stovetop baking is that apparently the oven in my new apartment sucks doesn’t work right. I had this for dessert last night and then for breakfast this morning.

If you want some other pumpkin recipes, here are a few of my favorites:

18 pumpkin pie

17-kabocha-garlic

What’s your favorite pumpkin recipe?

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Recipe: Chocolate Peanut Raisin Pumpkin Cookies (Blogger Secret Ingredient)

I made my Blogger Secret Ingredient (BSI) recipe today. This week’s ingredient is pumpkin, one of my favorite ingredients overall. I wanted to make something sweet so came up with a cookie recipe.

I actually made my own pumpkin puree…  I took a pumpkin, cut it in half, and baked it at 450F for 40 minutes.  Then I skinned it, cut it in pieces, and used my hand-mixer to blend it into a puree.  It’s so fresh – I usually have canned pumpkin, which is pretty good, but there is something special about pumpkin puree made from scratch.

Chocolate Peanut Raisin PUMPKIN Cookies

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup oats
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree (can make your own!)
  • 3/4 cup sugar (brown sugar would be good too)
  • 1/2 cup applesauce
  • 1/4 cup raisins
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips
  • 1/4 cup peanuts (then crush them up – so it seems like a little less than 1/4 cup)

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
  2. Mix together all the dry ingredients – flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.
  3. In a separate bowl, mix together the pumpkin, applesauce, and sugar.
  4. Now add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until everything is combined.  Add the raisins, chips, and crushed peanuts.
  5. Spoon cookies onto a greased pan (I used nonstick cooking spray).  Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until firm.

Makes 30 smallish cookies.

What is your favorite cookie?

Mine is oatmeal raisin.

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Vegan Cinnamon Buns | Healthy Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

Everyone loved these vegan cinnamon buns. I was looking for a healthy cinnamon rolls recipe, and I came across this recipe from Don’t Eat Off the Sidewalk, a great vegan blog. I changed it a bit.

  • Halved the recipe but still used the full packet of yeast.
  • Doubled the amount of filling (meaning I used the normal amount, even though I was halving the recipe).
  • It’s not quite vegan, because I used honey in the glaze… But only because I didn’t have powdered sugar. So you can easily make it vegan again.

Anyway, these disappeared after dinner, so I think they were a success. Here’s my version of the recipe…

Vegan Cinnamon Buns | Pumpkin Sticky Buns Recipe | Healthy Cinnamon Rolls

Cinnamon Buns Ingredients

  • 1 package dry yeast
  • 2 tablespoons warm water
  • 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
  • 2 tablespoons almond milk
  • 2 tablespoons butter or vegan margarine
  • 1/2 tablespoon granulated sugar (I used brown)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or allspice, or cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves… a mix is good)
  • 1.25 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • nonstick cooking spray

Cinnamon Buns Filling

  • 6 tablespoons brown sugar (I used granulated)
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 2 tablespoons margarine

Cinnamon Buns Glaze

  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 tablespoon hot water
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • (See original recipe for the vegan glaze)

Directions

  1. Mix the yeast and water and let it sit for 5 minutes.
  2. Mix the pumpkin, milk, butter, sugar, salt, and spices – put it in the microwave for 20 seconds to bring it to room temperature.
  3. Add the pumpkin mix to the yeast water and mix until smooth.
  4. Add the 1.25 cups of flour; mix until smooth.
  5. Use some of the 1/2 cup of flour to dust a surface for kneading. Then sprinkle flour on the dough and knead for 10 minutes, continually adding the remaining flour so that the dough doesn’t become too sticky.
  6. Coat a bowl with nonstick cooking spray and place the dough inside, rolling it around to coat it with the spray as well. Leave in a warm place, covered, for about 45 minutes or until the dough has at least doubled.
  7. Punch the dough down and let it sit, covered, for 5 more minutes.
  8. Make the filling – mix together the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and margarine.
  9. Flour your surface again and roll the dough out into a 10 inch square. Spread the filling out (I used my fingers) all over the dough.
  10. Roll up the dough into a cylinder and pinch the ends closed. Cut the cylinder into slices – the thicker they are, the bigger the buns will be. I made about 14, including the end bits. Spray nonstick cooking oil in a square pan and place the rolls inside. Cover and let them rise for about 25 minutes; they should double in size.
  11. Preheat the oven to 375F.
  12. Bake the rolls for 20 minutes or until golden. Let cool for 20 minutes.
  13. Mix the honey, sugar, water, and vanilla together and drizzle over the buns.

I think these healthy cinnamon rolls would be great warm with vanilla ice cream… Unfortunately I didn’t have ice cream, and now they’re gone. Guess I’ll have to make another batch.