All of today’s recipes and ideas are a healthy snack, salad topper, or even bread topper. Roasted pumpkin seeds are a healthy, crunchy snack that is gluten-free, paleo, and as long as you leave out the butter, a fantastic vegan treat.
The fall has fallen upon us. With that have come decreasing temperatures, crunchy leaves, and my personal favorite-the smells and tastes of the season. I love summertime but like most of my readers, I have craved the food and frolic associated with this delicious season. And let’s face it, you don’t feel too inspired when you walk outside and it still feels like July.
This week it seems as if the jack-o-lanterns have also begun to make their annual appearance on friends’ and neighbors’ doorsteps. Big, small, scary, and friendly, the stencils, ribbons, and ideas seem to span variety more and more every year. It made me wonder if folks still save their pumpkin seeds or throw them away after they finish carving their pumpkins.
Growing up, my brother David and I usually each had a pumpkin of our own to carve. My grandmother or mother would keep a watchful eye over us as we attempted to scoop out the guts and handle the sharp utensil. As we got older we were allowed to cut the design out ourselves, after tracing the pattern in pencil across the thick rubbery skin.
Whether while we were working, or after the process was completed, we always saved the seeds from the orange innards. In many ways that was my favorite part, pulling out the guts of the fall fruit, feeling the rooted pieces through my fingers and nestling them into my small palm as I pulled them out of the core.
That’s the beauty of traditions. It isn’t just about things being the same year after year, but about sitting down and creating something together as a family, even if it’s a little different every time.
Each year we would try a new recipe for pumpkin seeds. Some were better than others but somehow we always managed to eat them down to the last seed.
Today I have included a basic recipe for cooking pumpkin seeds. I’ve also included a variety of ideas and flavors for them. You pick a base oil or butter, add some flavor, and add a little sweet spice or salt. There’s no wrong road to pick. But if you still need a little direction, try one of the additional recipes I’ve included. They will leave you ready to carve another pumpkin.
I’ve also included a method of boiling the seeds, which helps make them much easier to digest. All of today’s recipes and ideas are a healthy snack, salad topper, or even bread topper. Roasted pumpkin seeds are a healthy, crunchy snack that is gluten-free, paleo, and as long as you leave out the butter, a fantastic vegan treat.
The recipes also involve eating the whole pumpkin seed, shell and all. You can crack the shell and just eat the pepita—the green inner pumpkin seed without the shell, but that’s a lot more work. With these delicious coatings, you’re going to be ready to mix and roast the whole seed for a better crunch
Good luck and enjoy!
Step One: Cleaning Pumpkin Seeds
a) Scoop all seeds from the pumpkin and lay them on a clean towel or newspaper.
b) Pick out any large chunks of the pumpkin guts and innards. These may be composted, fed to birds, or just thrown away.
c) After separating, dunk seeds into a big bowl of warm water. This will help loosen any remaining strings or pieces. Swirl them around in the bowl and let them sit for about five minutes. You will know when they are finished because the seeds will float to the top and the guts will sink to the bottom. Using a slotted spoon or similar kitchen utensil, scoop out the seeds and place them onto a dish towel or bowl.
d) Next, to speed up the process, but this step can be skipped if needed. Bring a saucepan of water to a boil. Use one quart of water with one tablespoon of salt. If you have more seeds, double this amount. Boil for about ten minutes. Remove from the water onto a towel to dry. Allow to sit for at least ten minutes. If they are still extremely wet you may need to add about ten minutes to cook time to get a really crunchy seed. If this is a concern, just let them dry overnight, spread out across a piece of newspaper or towel. I’ve tried both ways and it really ends up being a matter of a few minutes of cooking time and how much energy I have to keep baking after a night of pumpkin carving. Either way will work great.
Step Two: Coating and Roasting Pumpkin Seeds.
a) Preheat the oven to 300 degrees and line a baking sheet or two, depending on the amount of seeds, with parchment paper. You want to maintain a lower temperature when roasting to avoid burning and will definitely need to keep an eye on these beauties while cooking.
b) Thoroughly toss the dried pumpkin seeds with base, seasoning, and flavor. Make sure they are coated before baking.
c) Spread seeds onto lined baking sheets so that they are not on top of each other but as close to one even layer as possible.
d) Roast for about 20-30 minutes. Stirring or rotating pan, until they are golden brown. It’s ok if they are still a little chewy. The heat from the pan as they cool will continue to cook them and they will crisp beautifully after fully cooling. If you want them crispier, give them a chase to cool and then pop back into the oven for another five to ten minutes.
e) Once finished, store seeds in an airtight container or paper bag. No need to refrigerate. These can last in your pantry for as long as three months.
Base: After drying and cleaning, toss in one teaspoon per ½ cup of seeds. A little more or less is totally ok, as you will see from some of the recipes below. Be sure and use the base first before adding any herbs or flavors. This works as an adhesive for the flavors to stick and cook into the seeds.
Extra-virgin olive oil
vegetable oil
melted coconut oil
avocado oil
melted butter
Addition to the Base:
soy sauce
lime juice
lemon juice
vanilla extract (Pure is best but not vital.)
balsamic vinegar
white vinegar
Touches of Flavor:
ground cinnamon
cumin
curry powder
garlic powder
turmeric
chili powder
cayenne
sea salt
kosher
brown sugar
granulated sugar
lime zest
Meyer lemon zest
Diced chives
Diced rosemary
Microplane grated or diced garlic cloves
Toasted sesame seeds
Toasted chili pepper flakes
Dill flakes
Curry-Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
2 tsp vegetable oil
1 tsp soy sauce
½ tsp cumin
1 tsp curry powder
Sea salt & pepper to taste
Cinnamon-Sugar Pumpkin Seeds
3 tbsp butter or coconut oil
½ tsp vanilla extract
4 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
Sea salt or kosher salt to taste
Dill Pickle-Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp dill
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Sea salt and pepper to taste
Rosemary Cayenne-Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Zest of one Meyer lemon
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
2 tbsp diced rosemary
2 tbsp olive oil
Sea salt and pepper to taste
Garlic Chive- Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
2 cloves of garlic that have been grated on a microplane grater
3 tbsp diced chives
2 tbsp avocado oil or butter
Kosher salt and pepper to taste
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The recipes and photos used in today’s article are from the kitchen of Chef Babz (babzbites@gmail.com).
