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Orange Food Energy: Pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima)

By Gwen Nyhus Stewart

Recipes

Grilled Pumpkin

2 lb. (900 g) pumpkin, fresh

2 tbsp. (30 mL) balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp. (30 mL) olive oil

1 tsp. (5 mL) oregano

sea salt, to taste

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Wash the pumpkin and clean out the seeds and fibres. Peel pumpkin or you can also cook it unpeeled, if you wish. (I prefer to cook it unpeeled, as it is easier to handle on the grill. It is also much easier to peel once it has been cooked.) Cut pumpkin into large enough slices so that they don’t fall through the grill. Place pumpkin into a bowl. Add vinegar, olive oil, oregano, salt and pepper. Mix, making sure the pumpkin pieces are coated with the vinaigrette.

Cook pumpkin on the grill on medium heat approximately 5-10 minutes per side until pumpkin is tender. Remove from the grill and peel skin from pieces if you have cooked it with the skin on. (You can either scoop the pulp from the skin with a large spoon or you can hold the piece of pumpkin with a fork, take a sharp knife, and slide it along the edge of the pulp.) Serve warm with butter.

Other squash can be grilled using the same method. Try different kinds of basting oils, marinades, and vinaigrettes.

Mashed Pumpkin

3 - 4 cups (1000 mL) pumpkin, cooked, mashed

1 onion, thinly sliced

2 tbsp. (30 mL) olive oil

sea salt, to taste

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Wash pumpkin and clean out the seeds and fibres. Cook until soft. (Pumpkin can be baked, roasted, or steamed. If baking or roasting whole, make sure you pierce the skin with a knife to let steam escape during cooking.) Mash with a potato mixer.

Sauté onion slices in olive oil until browned. Add onions to pumpkin and re-heat pumpkin, if necessary. Add salt and pepper, if using, and serve warm.

Pumpkin Purée

Select a ripe, firm, medium-sized pumpkin. (Large pumpkins tend to take on a grainy texture.)

Wash the pumpkin and clean out the seeds and fibres. Cut the pumpkin into four to eight pieces.

Place the pumpkin pieces onto a baking sheet, sprayed with a non-stick spray.

Bake in the oven at 375° F (190° C) for one to 1-1/2 hours, or until pulp is soft.

Remove the pulp from the rind with a spoon and discard the rind. Blend the pulp until smooth using a blender, food processor, or mixer.

To create a really thick purée, put the pulp into a cheesecloth and squeeze out excess water.

Make and use fresh purée whenever possible for the best taste and freshness. Leftover purée can be frozen.

Other winter squash, such acorn, butternut, or hubbard can be puréed using the same process.

Pumpkin Spice

4 tsp. (20 mL) cinnamon

2 tsp. (10 mL) ginger

1 tsp. (5 mL) allspice

1 tsp. (5 mL) nutmeg

In a bowl, mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container.

After you make and taste it, adjust the spices to suit your taste.

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

1 tbsp. (15 m) egg white

1/4 tsp. (1 mL) cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp. (1 mL) garlic powder

2 tsp. (10 mL) soya sauce

1/4 cup (50 mL) Parmesan cheese, freshly grated very fine

2 cups (500 mL) raw hulled pumpkin seeds

sea salt, to taste

Preheat oven to 350° F (175° C).

Beat egg white with a whisk until soft and foamy. Add the rest of the ingredients and toss well. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and spread pumpkin seeds on the sheet in an even layer. Bake 13 - 15 minutes until the pumpkin seeds pop. Cool completely and store in a covered container.

* Decrease or omit the cayenne if you like these less spicy. If you like really hot flavours, try to find ground, dried chipotle chillies. They add a wonderful smoky punch.

See Orange Coloured Foods in the Plants, Food Colours, & Recipes section of this web site, and http://www.gwenshealinggarden.ca/Recipes.htm for additional information about the healing properties of orange, phytonutrients, and recipes.

(See The Healing Garden: A Place Of Peace Chapter 7, Colour and Healing Energy, page 62 for more information about what the colour orange means and Chapter 8, Colour Energy, Plants, and Recipes pages 71 - 75 for information about using orange in the garden and recipes.)

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