‘Twas the day after Halloween, and all through the house were sugar-crazed children, and a hung-over spouse! Whether you spent Halloween stealing your kid’s candy, showing off your spooky ensemble, or watching “Hocus Pocus” for the 37th time, now would be a good time to reclaim some nutrients for your diet. It won’t be long until you might be indulging in a piece of apple pie despite your tryptophan coma, or passing around a plate of delicious Hanukkah latkes. So before we all surrender to our annual holiday season gluttony, let’s refresh our systems with something wholesome. That way, we will be in top form for pretending to stick to our workout regimens after New Year’s.
Cooking, in my opinion, is all about love, health, and efficiency. The love and healthiness can often be satisfied by using local ingredients, while efficiency has a lot to do with utilizing substances you have lying around the house. Unfortunately there isn’t much you can do with your abundance of empty candy-bar wrappers, but there is a lot you can do with the seeds and pulp from that pumpkin on your front doorstep. Pumpkin seeds are an underutilized powerhouse, with high levels of vitamins and minerals (magnesium, copper, zinc and vitamin B), protein, and healthy fats. This is especially important this time of year; fatty acids help lower unhealthy cholesterol, and vitamin B contributes to combating lethargy and weakness. The benefits of pumpkin pulp are also timely as we enter cold and flu season. This pulp contains an abundance of vitamin C, which contributes greatly to immune system health. So before you toss that pumpkin into our societal waste collection of holiday decorations, give some — or all — of these recipes a try. Oh, and keep reading The MV Times — soon I might have you munching on Christmas trees.
Extracting the seeds
Carefully carve out and remove the top of your pumpkin. Scoop the seeds and pulp into a bowl. Manually remove as much of the pulp from the seeds as possible, and place the separated seeds into a colander. Reserve and refrigerate the leftover pulp. Rinse off the seeds with cool water until most or all of the pulp has been removed. Dry and disperse the seeds on a hard flat surface. Take a rolling pin and gently roll it over the seeds, using enough pressure to produce small cracks in the shells, but not so much that you fracture the internal seeds. You can also put the seeds into a zip-close bag, lay it out on a flat surface, and lightly tap the seeds with the back of a spoon, applying the same moderate amount of pressure.
Bring a medium pot of water to a boil and add the seeds. Boil for five to 10 minutes, until most of the shells have fallen off and are floating. Remove the deshelled seeds, dry, and let cool. Remove remaining shell remnants from the seeds. You can consume the raw seeds, but for more of a crunchy and toasted consistency, spread the seeds onto a baking sheet and bake at 375° for no more than five minutes.
Toasted Pumpkin Seed Snack
While the actual seed inside the shell holds all of the nutrients, there is nothing wrong with consuming it with the hearty crunch of the toasted shell. The shell also provides a vessel for your favorite seasonings, to add some flavor to this healthy snack. For a sweet take on this savory recipe, hold the salt and pepper, and trade the cumin, coriander, and Parmesan for sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Seeds from 1 medium/large-size pumpkin (about 2 cups of seeds)
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 Tbsp. black pepper
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. coriander
1 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese
Preheat the oven to 300°. Combine the seeds and ingredients in a mixing bowl. Disburse the seeds onto a baking sheet and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until golden brown.
Autumnal Salad
Serves two
1 large sweet potato
1 large parsnip
leaves from 3 springs of fresh thyme
1 tsp. nutmeg
½ cup olive oil
4 radishes
½ cup crumbled goat cheese
½ cup diced candied dates
2 Tbsp. shelled pumpkin seeds
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
Preheat the oven to 375°. Skin and dice the sweet potato and parsnip. Combine with thyme, pepper, salt, nutmeg, and ¼ cup of your olive oil. Distribute onto a baking sheet and bake for about 40 minutes. Once the veggies are slightly golden brown on the outside and tender on the inside, remove from the oven and let cool. For efficiency, combine with your remaining ingredients in a mixing bowl and portion out two servings. Or, if you’re anything like me, artistically arrange one serving of the ingredients in a bowl for your dinner guest, while you realize you have either already consumed or are wearing the remaining serving. Either way, your tastebuds will enjoy this recipe just as much as your insides will.
Pumpkin-Seed-Crusted Pork Chops with Caramelized Apples and Spicy Pumpkin Purée
Serves two
For the caramelized apples and onions:
¼ cup olive oil
1 large apple (variety of your choice; I prefer Gala)
1 large sweet yellow onion
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. coriander
For the spicy pumpkin purée:
pulp from 1 large pumpkin (about 2 cups)
1 stick of butter
1 tsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. salt
For the chops:
2 cups crushed pumpkin seeds
2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. black pepper
2 tsp. nutmeg
4 large eggs
2 6-oz. boneless pork chops
½ cup olive oil
Start this dish by preparing the caramelized apples and onions. Add oil to a medium-sized sauté pan and set the heat to medium. Slice the apple and onion, rub them with the spices, and add to the pan. Stir frequently. Sauté for about 15 minutes, and then up the heat to high for about three minutes to get a char on the softened apples and onions.
For the purée, add all of the ingredients to a medium-size sauté pan and simmer on medium heat, stirring frequently, for about 20 minutes. Let cool about 1 minute and then blend in a food processor or blender until the purée has reached a creamy consistency.
For the pork chops, first put your shelled pumpkin seeds into a zip-close bag, find someone who needs to get some anger out, and instruct him or her to pound the bag full of seeds until the seeds have reached a fine, crumblike consistency (as photographed). Dump the pumpkin seed crumbs into a bowl, and add salt, pepper and nutmeg.
Beat eggs in a separate bowl. Find your angry friend and have him or her give some hearty whacks to your pork chops with the back of a spoon. Pour olive oil into a sauté pan and bring it to a medium/high heat. Dredge the pork chops in the egg, then coat with the crushed seeds. Cook about three to five minutes on each side, depending on the size of your chops, until the pumpkin-seed crust is golden brown and a meat thermometer inserted into the center of the chop reads 130°.
Let the cooked chops rest for about 5 minutes before serving. Smother your chops with the delicious caramelized apples and onions, and pumpkin purée, and enjoy. Also, give yourself a high-five, because this pumpkin-seed crust is a lot more nutritious than a traditional breadcrumb crust.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins with a Brown Sugar and Pumpkin Seed Crumble
For the muffins:
1⅔ cup all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground nutmeg
¼ tsp. ground cloves
2 large eggs
1 15-oz. can pure pumpkin purée
½ cup softened butter
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
For the crumble:
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup flour
½ cup softened butter
½ cup crushed and shelled pumpkin seeds
½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350°. First prepare the muffins. Grease a muffin tray with nonstick spray or softened butter. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugars, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. In another medium bowl, combine the eggs, pumpkin, softened butter, and chocolate chips. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir. Divide the batter into the muffin tray, and place it in the fridge for a few minutes while you prepare the crumble. Prepare the crumble by combining all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl, until it has reached a chunky and crumbly consistency (I aim to keep my cooking lingo user-friendly). Remove your muffin tray from the fridge, and evenly disperse the crumble on top of the muffins. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until a fork inserted into the muffins comes out clean.
Warning: Make sure you get to enjoy a muffin yourself. I brought these muffins into The Times office after I had created and baked them for this article, and they were gone before I left for lunch break.