Nara Smith Would Be Proud

Fall has begun, which means only one thing: seasonal cooking has also begun. Now I want you to go into your closet, pick the most extravagant outfit you own, ask your friends and family what they will be craving in the next 5 hours, and get to cooking from scratch. 

I’m kidding. I wish I had the time and motivation to make my loved ones a nice warm pie with the apples from my garden, but sadly, I couldn’t even keep my chia pets alive, and I have a hunch most of you couldn’t either. So now, I present to you 4 delicious fall recipes that – although they aren’t made from scratch – would still make Nara Smith so proud.

Pumpkin Hummus

Let’s start things off right, with the perfect autumn dip.

Ingredients

1 can (15 ounces) garbanzo beans or chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/3 cup tahini

1/4 cup olive oil or pumpkin seed oil

3 tablespoons orange juice

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons pumpkin seed oil or olive oil, optional

1/4 cup salted pumpkin seeds or pepitas

1/4 cup pomegranate seeds

Baked pita chips and sliced apples and pears

Directions

1. In a food processor, combine the first 9 ingredients; cover and process until smooth.
2. Transfer to a serving platter or bowl.
3. Garnish with oil if desired; top with pumpkin seeds and pomegranate seeds.
4. Serve with pita chips, apples, and pears.

Simple, quick, and delicious. (You better be reading this with Nara Smith’s voice).

Butternut squash soup

Moving on to the main course, we’ve got a nice and comforting soup made from the vegetables you harvested from your garden (or your local HEB).

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 large yellow onion, chopped

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 (3-pound) butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage

1/2 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

3 to 4 cups vegetable broth

Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat.
2. Add the onion, salt, and several grinds of fresh pepper and sauté until soft, 5 to 8 minutes.
3. Add the squash and cook until it begins to soften, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes.
4. Add the garlic, sage, rosemary, and ginger.
5. Stir and cook 30 seconds to 1 minute, until fragrant, then add 3 cups of the broth.
6. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook until the squash is tender, 20 to 30 minutes.
7. Let cool slightly and pour the soup into a blender, working in batches if necessary, and blend until smooth. If your soup is too thick, add up to 1 cup more broth and blend.
8. Season to taste and serve with parsley, pepitas, and crusty bread, and ENJOY!

BAKED APPLE PIE RINGS

Now for a little dessert, of course, we had to go with something sweet that’ll make you feel like you’re eating your favorite home goods candle (but like… in a good way).

INGREDIENTS

1 box of puffy pastry sheets – you will need both sheets

2 apple

1/2 cup sugar

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 tbsp egg whites

juice of 1 lemon

DIRECTIONS

1. Thaw puff pastry and preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Peel and core the apples, before slicing them into rounds.
3. Use a 1-1/4 inch-diameter cookie cutter to open the core slice a little larger.
4. Place the apple slices into a bowl, cover with water, and add the juice of 1 lemon.
5. Unfold the puff pastry and roll it until it is slightly larger, before cutting the puff pastry into ¾ inch strips.
6. Mix the cinnamon, sugar, and nutmeg in a shallow dish and set aside.
7. Pat the apple slices dry with a paper towel and dust them with a bit of cinnamon sugar.
8. Wrap strips of the puff pastry (3-4 strips/apple ring) around each apple ring.
9. Brush the wrapped apple rings with egg wash on both sides and dip the rings into cinnamon sugar.
10. Place them on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes until puff pastry is flaky and light golden brown.

Let them cool and serve to your guests who have been craving these for 3 business days and enjoy!

Pumpkin cinnamon rolls

Finally, let’s redeem pumpkin cinnamon rolls and show Nara and Lucky what a good one looks like, and trust me, we won’t get a 1/10 rating with this one.

Ingredients

For the dough

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 cup whipped cream cheese

3 tablespoon honey

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

For the glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

2-3 tablespoons milk, water or cream

1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

Directions

For the dough

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. In a separate bowl or the bowl of a standing mixer, cream together the butter and sugar, then mix in pumpkin puree. Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and stir to combine.
4. On a well-floured surface, roll the dough to a 1/4-inch thick rectangle about 16 x 12 inches. Spread the cream cheese on top of the dough, drizzle with honey, and sprinkle with cinnamon.
5. Carefully roll up the dough, starting with the long side, and cut into 1-inch pieces.
6. Place the rolls in greased muffin cups or silpat or parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 20 – 22 minutes or until golden brown.

For the glaze

1. A tablespoon at a time, add milk to the powdered sugar and mix until the perfect consistency is reached.
2. Add the vanilla extract.
3. Drizzle glaze over cooked cinnamon rolls.

With these recipes, I can guarantee your friends will devour them in minutes, but it’s okay cause you only spent like 6 hours making it (not really)! I hope you have channeled your inner Nara Smith and this has inspired you to become the next online cooking sensation, who knows, one day you might even be making gum from scratch!

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• food
• pumpkin bread
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