How to Roast a Pumpkin

Yes you can eat those beautiful carved creatures! You’ve already done the hard work, now just cut in in half (or smaller chunks) and roast in the oven (350 F, 40 min or so). Add to smoothies, pies, salads, sage and butter, or just with a fork! 🥧

Halloween is the one day almost all Americans have real vegetables in their homes... but they throw them straight in the trash. 🤦🏽‍♀️

More than half of the 2 BILLION pounds of pumpkins grown in the US end up in the garbage... where they are actually HARMful to the environment. Surrounded by plastic, plant scraps become methane (way worse than carbon emissions). 🔬

But if we COMPOST them, or better yet, EAT the things, it all becomes healthy for US and the environment. 🌱

If you let a banana rot on concrete, it becomes nasty and emits harmful gas. If it rots on soil, it becomes beautiful brown hummus... the stuff ALL of life on this planet depends on (including us). 🌏

You can use your pumpkin to help the environment... or hurt it. 🎃

Simple Roasted Pumpkin

• Preheat oven to 350 F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

• Hardest part (which you may have already done)… cut and scrape out seeds. Then cut halfway, or smaller chunks to bake.

• Brush the pumpkin flesh with oil, sprinkle with salt, and place flesh down (so you have two big round mounds) on the baking sheet. Pierce skin a few times with a fork or knife to let steam escape.

• Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a fork easily pierces the skin. Then remove pan from the oven, let the pumpkin cool for 10 minutes, then scoop out and use for whatever dish you’d prefer! See text links above.

Make it Puree!

Scoop pumpkin into a high-speed blender until creamy and smooth. if it has trouble blending, add a little water. But it shouldn’t need it! Stores in refrigerator 1 week, or in the freezer for many months.

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie
In a blender, combine 1/2 cup ice, 1/2 cup vanilla nonfat yogurt, 1 tsp. honey, 1/4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice and 1/4 cup pumpkin puree (add half a banana if you’d like). Puree until icy and smooth.

Pumpkin Pasta Sauce
In a large nonstick skillet, sauté several cloves of garlic and half an onion, diced. Add 1 1/2 to 2 cups pumpkin puree and stir to combine; add vegetable stock if needed to thin the sauce a bit. Add minced fresh sage or rosemary and serve over whole-wheat penne pasta.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Spread
Add 1/2 cup canned pumpkin, 2 Tbsp. sugar (or sugar substitute to taste) and 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice to 8 ounces of low-fat cream cheese.

Easy Pumpkin Ice Cream
Simply add 1 cup canned or fresh pumpkin puree and 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice to your favorite vanilla ice cream recipe; freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.

Pumpkin Bruschetta Appetizers
Rub toasted bread rounds with a whole garlic clove to season; top with 2 tsp. pumpkin puree and 1/2 tsp. bleu cheese; broil for about 1 minute to melt the cheese. Top with toasted pumpkin seeds and coarse sea salt.

Pumpkin Spice Donut Holes
Mix 1-1/2 c GF flour, 1/2 c coconut sugar, 1/2 Tbs pumpkin pie spice, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp baking powder. Then mix 1/3 c melted ghee, 1 egg (or flax egg), 3/4 c pumpkin puree, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/2 c nut milk. Pour into muffin tin and bake 350 F for 11-15 min. Roll in melted butter (1/3 cup) and cinnamon sugar (1/2 Tbs cinnamon with 1/2 c coconut sugar)

Boozie Pumpkin Pie Milkshake
Vanilla ice cream, pureed pumpkin, nut milk, pumpkin pie spice, coconut sugar, and vanilla vodka in the blender!

More Variations

• Roasted Pumpkin with Brown Butter and Sage

• Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

• Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

• 20-Minute Pumpkin Butter

• Cranberry Pumpkin Steel Cut Oats

• Simple Pumpkin Soup

• Pumpkin, Potato and Sage

• Pumpkin Dip

• Pumpkin Mac ‘n’ Cheese

Desserts

• Carrot Pumpkin Bars

• Pumpkin Pie Bars

• Vegan Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie

• Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

• Pumpkin Sugar Cookies

• Pumpkin Pie Parfaits

• Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream

Pumpkin Seed Seasonings

Clean seeds, sprinkle with avocado oil, and add seasoning. Roast at 300F, 30 min. Each recipe below is for 1/2 cup seeds.

• Ranch pumpkin seeds (per 1/2 c seeds)

  • 1 teaspoon olive oil

  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

  • 1/4 teaspoon onion powder

  • 1/4 teaspoon parsley

  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

  • 1/4 teaspoon dill

  • 1/8 teaspoon dry mustard

  • 1/8 teaspoon celery seed

  • 1/8 teaspoon paprika

  • 1/8 teaspoon black pepper

• Pizza pumpkin seeds (per 1/2 c seeds)

  • 1 teaspoon olive oil

  • 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese or nutritional yeast

  • 1/2 teaspoon dried basil

  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

  • 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

• Dil Pickle pumpkin seeds (per 1/2 c seeds)

  • 1 teaspoon olive oil

  • 1 teaspoon white vinegar

  • 1 teaspoon dill

  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

  • 1/8 teaspoon black pepper

• Salt and pepper pumpkin seeds (per 1/2 c seeds)

  • 1 teaspoon olive oil

  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

  • 1/8–1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• Cinnamon sugar pumpkin seeds (per 1/2 c seeds)

  • 1 teaspoon olive oil

  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar

  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

  • Pinch of salt