This year I came up with this design for carved pumpkin I had to do this in a rush. Harry carved a pumpkin at school which saved the day.
Pumpkin is a nutritious vegetable not only to be enjoyed for carving. It contains heaps of carotenes an antioxidant great for fighting free radical damage in the body. The richer the colour the higher the carotene content. They are also a good source of vitamin C, B1, B6, B3, B5, potassium and folate. A great source of fibre which helps your digestion. The health benefits of carotenes have been widely studied and there is evidence for health promoting properties for various diseases.
You can enjoy your pumpkin flesh in many ways. I will make a pumpkin stew with mine with some coconut milk, lots of onion, garlic and fresh ginger, Thai herbs and some pork mince. This I will season with some Thai fish sauce and finish it with some tamari and perhaps a squeeze of lime juice.
In addition to this I have made a pumpkin spiced latte which you can find in the recipe section to warm me up on this cold day.
The seeds of the pumpkin make a delicious snack. You can roast them with just a little salt and pepper or with a bit of tamari sauce. Put them in a low heat oven on a baking tray at about 150C and turn them occasionally till crip. It will take about 20 minutes. You can eat these seeds with their protective shells on or if they are from a big pumpkin simply pop them out of the cover after roasted and only eat the inside. We are privileged to buy big bags of shelled pumpkin seeds in this country but in reality many countries traditionally enjoy this seed in their shells and this makes it slower to eat say a pack full of seeds.
These tasty seeds are great sources of nutrients. They are rich sources of minerals such as phosphorus, magnesium, iron, manganese, zinc and copper. They also provide you with vitamins A, B's fibre, protein and healthy fats.
