Madison hair stylist cooks yummy pumpkin soup!

We trust her in the salon, we can trust her in the kitchen!

Barb Tonkin of Salon Barbara (7940 Tree Lane, Suite 104, Oakbridge Center) in Madison is a master of mixing, whether it be hair color or scrumptious food.  Just as no one knows your ravishing hair color came from Barb's bottles, no one will know that the delicious pumpkin soup they're eating came from cans in the cupboard.  What luck, that here, on this blog, Barb shares her culinary secret ingredients for healthy, EASY pumpkin soup.

SIMPLE PUMPKIN SOUP RECIPE

• 1 15 oz can pumpkin puree
• 1 15 oz can tomatoes (can use diced, crushed, sauce, or whole - cut up)
• 1 15 oz can whole kernel sweet corn
• 1 15 oz can black beans
• 1 10 oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
• chicken broth - approximately one can's worth
• cinnamon to taste (about a teaspoon)
• ground cloves to taste (about 1/2 teaspoon)
• salt and pepper to taste

Put all ingredients in a soup pot.  Use as much chicken broth as tastes good to you.  Cook on low heat until flavors have blended - a half hour or several hours, as you like.

To make the soup sweeter, add a splash of apple juice or maple syrup, or a teaspoon or so of brown sugar.  For variety, you can add other veggies or spices.  I like to add parsley.  Sometimes I use a larger-sized can of tomatoes.  Of course you can use fresh ingredients instead of canned, but then you have to take "SIMPLE" out of the recipe's title.  This recipe and its suggested proportions of ingredients are just a scaffold for a delicious pumpkin creation. Make it your own and enjoy!