DASH diet Pumpkin Black Bean Soup

In the near future, I think I'll move these DASH diet recipes over to their own blog. I'm having great fun discovering ways to flavor food without the use of salt (or very minimal use of salt) and fats, in an effort to control my blood pressure and cholesterol. As someone brought up in an age when mothers thought putting butter on everything would prevent your child from choking on food (and my mother could get me to eat anything she cooked if she put a pile of mayonnaise on top), it is time to drop old cooking habits and eat more healthy. OK, it's passed time - but that I can't change. I've always wanted to try pumpkin soup or pumpkin side dishes. Pumpkin has many health benefits (which you can read about here), including antioxidants, fiber, and a good source of zinc and iron. I found this recipe in a magazine (possibly Prevention, but I'm not sure...) and simply took away most of the sodium and added some flavor of my own. It's an unusual soup. When I first tasted the final product, my reaction was that it had a very "clean" flavor to it. Be sure and use pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling! Pumpkin Black Bean Soup 1 can no sodium black beans, drained and rinsed 1 can no sodium kidney beans, drained and rinsed 1 can no sodium diced tomatoes 1 can pumpkin puree 4 cups no sodium vegetable broth 1/2 cup onion, diced 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 tbsp olive oil 1 tbsp ground cumin 1/4 tsp salt 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp allspice 1/4 cup Splenda Brown Sugar 1/2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice (or add 1/4 tsp nutmeg and 1/4 tsp ground cloves) 1 tsp ground black pepper Place oil, onion, garlic and seasonings into large pot and cook on low-medium heat until onion is translucent. Place beans, tomatoes and half the vegetable broth in a food processor or blender and puree. Add these with pumpkin and rest of broth to pot. Heat to a simmer and simmer uncovered for 45 minutes. Add Splenda brown sugar and simmer for another 15 minutes. Serves 6-8.