It's Pumpkin Time

What's In Season In The Region: 

Food Focus: Pumpkins!

To honour Halloween and local seasonal cuisine I thought it would be fun to focus on Pumpkins!  Such symbols of this time of year, usually in the form of pumpkin pie or hollowed out and carved into Jack-o-Lanterns.  And of course who can grow the biggest one, I believe the record is now about 600lbs!

I really enjoy pumpkins and all their various winter-squash cousins.   I love them roasted or in soups and once in a while in a cheese-cake too.  In the recipe section below you'll find out how to make my good friend Bryan's super-tasty pumpkin soup!  It is so good it'll make you do a little happy dance!

The name pumpkin actually comes from the Greek word Pepon that means large melon, and it's easy to see their similarity.   But these seeds are not for spittin'.  Pumpkin Seeds are extremely nutritious and tasty too.  We like to roast the seeds with sea-salt and curry powder.... oh boy, talk about tasty crunchy salty snacks!  They are said to be especially good for men's health but both sexes derive benefits from these seeds ~ a good source of protein, zinc, iron, vitamin A, calcium, magnesium, manganese, phosporous, some of the B vitamins, and the amino acid tryptophan.   They are beneficial to the health of the colon, liver, spleen-pancreas and our skin.    So be sure to save the seeds, wash away the slippery stuff then lay them flat onto a baking tray and roast in the oven for about 20 minutes with a little sea-salt and curry powder or plain turmeric (don't let them burn).   Then save them in a glass jar with a sealed lid for healthy snacking or sprinkling on salads.  You may even want to keep some of the raw ones in the fridge and throw into your smoothies!   

The "meat" of the pumpkin is really wonderfully sweet and can assist in curbing some of your sugar cravings, not to mention it is rich in Vitamin A and potassium, and is helpful in regulating blood sugar metabolism.  Pumpkins are also an excellent source of beta carotene and anti-oxidants, they're good for your skin and can even aid in reversing some skin damage.  They help to balance your hormones and can be a part of a prevention diet towards staving off Alzheimers, depression and prostate cancer.      Wow, these wonderful fruits are so good for us!  Be sure to pack them into your autumn diet, and of course make yourself a little jack-of-the-lantern for fun too (and when you do, be sure to save what you scoop out for eating!)