This recipe comes to us from Dylan. Who has too many amazing recipes on her website phruitfuldish.com. We definitely encourage you to check her page out - you will get so many creative ways to try out new foods that you'll be running to your local farmers market to stock up!
Ever since I was a little kid, my mom Umeeda used to get really upset about all the food waste that comes with carved pumpkins for halloween, but she also loved letting me get creative... she solved this by always using the whole pumpkin for food! We used to roast seeds, and make sure we didn't leave the pumpkins out too long so that we could break them down and use them in soup... that is of course if the squirrels didn't get to them first. So we both love this recipe idea! You could also add these to your morning granola!
A little about Dylan, from her blog:
"I am a PhD candidate living in the beautiful city of Vancouver, Canada, on unceded Coast Salish territory. I conduct scientific studies to advance our knowledge of women’s reproductive health. My passion, and the focus of my thesis, is polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). I research various ways to manage PCOS through lifestyle changes, such as improving nutritional intake, increasing exercise, and developing a mind-body practice".
Ingredients:
2 cups pumpkin seeds (2 large pumpkins made this amount)
4 tspn olive oil
1 tspn truly turmeric
1/2 tspn black pepper
4 tspn pumpkin spice (2 parts cinnamon to 1 part each all spice, nutmeg, ginger)
pinch of salt optional
How to:
Scoop out pumpkin seeds along with the inside of the pumpkin.
Separate pumpkin seeds from pumpkin goop (technical word, I know) and rinse clean.
Spread seeds out on baking pans, pat dry with paper towel, and leave out overnight to dry.
Preheat oven to 200 deg. F (very low).
Mix spices and oil together in a small bowl.
Pour over seeds in a large bowl and mix to coat seeds.
Spread out seeds in one layer on parchment paper on a baking sheet.
Cook at 200 deg. F for about 45 min.
PCOS Powers:
pumpkin seeds = contain tryptophan which is a precursor for serotonin (induces relaxation and improves brain health), contain phytoestrogens which increase HDL cholesterol and lower blood pressure, contain beta-sitosterol which inhibits conversion of testosterone to DHT
cinnamon = may help balance glucose levels, lower cholesterol, and decrease triglycerides in blood
turmeric = anti-inflammatory, helps lower blood glucose levels
ginger = anti-inflammatory, may help decrease fasting blood glucose and HbA1c