This soup is loud. Beefy, spicy, smoky, textured and complex, ten times better than I even knew pumpkin soup could be. It has no cream. It is thickened by coarsely-pureed black beans.
CANDY. Yes it's totally bad for you, addictive even, spikes your blood sugar, gives you diabetes, and has little other nutritional value. It makes for excellent stained glass when melted inside gingerbread cookies.
I like to make and freeze a big batch of Asian dumplings like these tofu and kimchi-filled Korean mandu. They're easy to heat up as a bite to eat between running to events and make a nice appetizer for guests, too.