The Department of Salad Dressing Room 👗 🥗

We have a potent orange basil vinaigrette. But first: We just had to give you this cozy pumpkin soup (with chipotle crema!) 🎃

Juice some oranges ASAP (then make my potent orange basil vinaigrette).

I’D LIKE TO APOLOGIZE TO PUMPKIN SPICE. In our last bulletin, I was cruel to it, even though I really have nothing against it. The ubiquitous autumn marketing is what burrows into my soul and makes me feel dead inside. Which, if you think about it, is perfect for Halloween!

The upside is that writing the word “pumpkin” so many times made me remember a really delicious pumpkin soup I had at the home of a friend in Chicago years ago, back when I was a reporter at the Tribune. So while I was playing around with dressings for this issue, I couldn’t resist trying to replicate that soup from memory.

Soup (top) and salad dressing.

What was remarkable about this Chicago soup was that there was nothing flashy—it wasn’t highly spiced or sweetened up like a Thanksgiving pie, which I would not have liked. Nor could I detect any herbs, like thyme or rosemary. There was no outspoken element, really. It was just plain and good and cozy.

My friend served it with a dollop of sour cream (it may have been plain yogurt) on top. You can do that, too, but I’ve also included a chipotle Crema to swirl on top of my pumpkin soup, which is flavored with onions and apples and is a snap to make. It’s a good soup to serve when your diners are of mixed faith: meaning those who worship spicy/smoky, and those who don’t.

---

WE DO NOT LOVE TO BRING IT UP. But, it takes two kinds of lettuce (🥬 + $$) to keep the Department of Salad going. The best way to support us, if you don’t already: Press the green button (and get full access to all the salad in our enormous archive). Or give a gift!

---

Ladle it into bowls and let people choose from plain sour cream or the chipotle crema. And pass around toasted salted pumpkin seeds (or pepitas) to sprinkle on top.

The dressing I have for you today is a nice and quite potent orange and basil vinaigrette—which would be good on so many things, but especially salads that incorporate beets or avocado or roasted winter squash or carrots, or just about any kind of fruit—as well as salads with chicken or shrimp. I hope you like both of these recipes.

I’m also including the recipe for the sour-cream corn muffins from my book, which I have included in the newsletter before, because they’d be so good with this soup and they are such a perfect cool-weather treat.

🍑 🍒 🍏 🍋

ONE SMALL THING BEFORE YOU HIT THE RECIPES?

Would you mind hitting the ❤️ button at the bottom left of this newsletter if you enjoy being here? It means more to us than you might imagine. XO—Emily

🍅 🥕 🥬 🌿

*RECIPE: Potent Orange Basil Vinaigrette

Makes about a cup

This dressing needs to sit in the fridge for a couple of hours (or, if you have time, overnight) before using, to let the flavors fall in love and get married.

• 1 cup orange freshly squeezed orange juice

• 2 tablespoon chopped onion

• 1 teaspoon honey

• 1 heaping cup basil leaves

• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

• Zest of ½ orange

• Juice of ½ lemon

• 2 teaspoons sherry vinegar

• ⅓ cup olive oil

• 2 tablespoons canola oil

• Pinch of cayenne

• ¼ teaspoon salt, more to taste

Add the orange juice to a small saucepan and reduce the mixture to ⅓ cup over medium high heat. Remove from heat and stir in the onion and honey. Allow the mixture to cool completely, then transfer to a mini food processor along with all of the remaining ingredients. Process until well incorporated. Taste for salt—or you might want another squeeze of lemon? Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before using.

Potent Orange Basil Vinaigrette

508KB ∙ PDF file

Download

Download

*RECIPE: Cozy Pumpkin Soup, with Chipotle Crema and Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

Serves 4 to 6

Soup, like salad, is a highly adjustable dish, easy to play around with and easy to overcomplicate. But I love this very simple version of pumpkin soup, with its hint of sweetness from the apple and just a touch of maple syrup.

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 2 cups chopped onion

• 2 cloves garlic, chopped

• 1 large tart apple, peeled, cored and chopped

• 3 15-ounce cans pumpkin puree

• 4 cups chicken stock

• 3 tablespoons butter

• 2 tablespoons maple syrup

• 1 tablespoon good balsamic vinegar (my fancy bottle is this one from Williams-Sonoma)

• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

• Chipotle crema (method below)

• Toasted salted pumpkin seeds or pepitas, for garnish

1. In a large, heavy-bottomed pot with a lid, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 or 2 more minutes. Season with a pinch of salt and a few grindings of black pepper. Turn the heat down to medium low, stir in the chopped apple, put the lid on the pot, and continue cooking until the apple is quite soft, 4 or 5 more minutes.

2. Stir in the pumpkin puree and the chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat down and let this bubble for about 5 minutes. Carefully transfer the mixture to a blender and puree until smooth. You may have to do this in batches.

3. Return the soup to the pot. Stir in the butter, maple syrup, and balsamic vinegar and continue cooking over medium low heat until the butter has melted and the soup is fully warmed through. Taste for salt and pepper; you may want a touch more maple syrup or a small extra splash of balsamic vinegar.

4. Serve warm, topped with chipotle crema and toasted salted pumpkin seeds or pepitas.

Chipotle Crema

Makes about a cup

Since not all chipotle peppers are the same size, you might want to start with one, taste, and adjust. But you definitely want a pretty big, smoky pepper presence here.

• 1 cup sour cream (or Mexican crema)

• 2 canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (with the adobo sauce still clinging to them)

• Juice of ½ lime—more to taste

Place all ingredients in the bowl of a mini food processor and process until the peppers are fully incorporated and the mixture is smooth.

Cozy Pumpkin Soup, With Chipotle Crema And Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

592KB ∙ PDF file

Download

Download

*RECIPE: Magnificent Sour Cream Corn Muffins, from The Comfort Food Diaries

Makes 6 large or 12 medium muffins

These are adapted from the great Marion Cunningham.

• 1 large egg plus one yolk, at room temperature

• 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for the tins

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

• ¼ cup milk, warmed

• 1 scant cup all-purpose flour

• ⅔ cup white cornmeal

• 1 tablespoon baking powder

• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

• ½ teaspoon salt

• 1 cup sour cream or plain yogurt

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (204°C).

2. Grease the muffin tins.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg, egg yolk, melted butter, oil, and milk until well blended.

4. Combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, sugar, and salt in another bowl and stir with a fork until well mixed. 

5. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until blended.  Finally, stir in the sour cream.

6. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins until each cup is ¾ full. 

7. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the edges of the muffins are slightly golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from tins and serve hot. (They’re also delicious at room temperature or toasted the next day for breakfast.)

Magnificent Sour Cream Corn Muffins

804KB ∙ PDF file

Download

Download

🥬 🥬🥬 🥬🥬

🥬 🥬🥬 🥬That’s It! We’re done here! We’ll see you soon with a recipe for authentic Boston Brown Bread. I’m kidding—it’s going to be salad.

🥬🥬🥬 ONE MORE THING: Please remember that while you may receive The Department of Salad as an e-mail, all issues of the newsletter—along with any corrections, the archive, and our Fancy New Recipe Index—are always available at the Department of Salad website. (You can always search “The Department of Salad” or go directly to emilyrnunn.substack.com.) All the recipes from all the newsletters will be there for you. To search the Index, simply use the search function (command F) that produces a search bar in the upper-right-hand corner of the page.

🥬 🥬ALSO, I’M WONDERING: Do you follow me on Instagram? My feed is not a consistent array of uniformly styled photos of perfect food, which I know is what I’m supposed to offer. But I get too bored. So it includes videos of giant pandas loudly eating carrots and personal crap representative of my bad personality. I’d love to have you. Go here: Emily’s Instagram

🥬 IN THE MEANTIME: If you feel like sharing the Department of Salad with friends or family who deserve it, please do so with the buttons below—it would mean the world to us! Thanks for being a subscriber.