Get creative with pumpkin
Cooking with Pumpkin
Pumpkin is more than just food
Although fall signals the arrival of winter, I love the beautiful colours of the Indian Summer and eagerly await the arrival of pumpkins. They come in a variety of shapes and colours and if you live in a rural area, you may be lucky to come across a pumpkin exhibition like the one I saw many years ago in the Canadian Okanagan Valley. If you are a pumpkin lover like me, you will definitely appreciate the beautiful pictures of these amazing fruits. Yes, I'm not making this up, pumpkin is actually a fruit and not as generally believed, a vegetable.
Pumpkins are extremely versatile as a cooking ingredient and they can be integrated into just about any meal from breakfast to dinner. All you need to do is google “Pumpkin Recipes” and you will get about 58,200,000 results in 0.32 seconds - more than you could possibly cope with in a lifetime. So what are you waiting for, you better get cooking...
Nothing goes to waste and even the seeds are pressed into a delicate gourmet cooking oil with an extremely rich and nutty flavour. Roasted seeds offer a healthy snack solution or can be used as a crunchy garnish for salads or soups.
But the use of pumpkin is not only limited to cooking. I’ve seen some pretty creative examples which I would like to share with you.
And by the way, thanks to a reader I've found out that you can even make pumpkin cocktails - just google "Pumpkin Margarita Recipes" and you'll find enough ideas to keep you creative until at last Christmas.
Seasonal pumpkin sign
Colourful pumpkin exhibition
Pumpkin people
Pumpkin bird
Pumpkin boat (only recommended for giant pumpkins)
Pumpkin Humour
Pumpkin recipes by novascotiamiss
- Mediterranean Pumpkin, Tomato and Goat Cheese Dip
There's more to pumpkin than just pumpkin pie. You can use your leftover pumpkin puree to make this amazingly easy dip.
- Mediterranean Pumpkin Salad
Try out something new this winter. This colourful pumpkin salad is a definite winner as it's full of healthy vitamins.
- Quick and easy Chicken, Pumpkin and Chickpea Curry
A quick and easy curry recipe that integrates chicken and vegetables in one pot. Just the right thing for cold winter nights.
- Crispy Pumpkin Bread
There's nothing better than the taste of home-made bread. This quick and easy Pumpkin Bread is best served with soups or salads.
- Raw pumpkin, beet and sauerkraut salad
The health benefits of pumpkin, beet and sauerkraut are amazing. Combined together this tasty salad is a vitamin bomb that will help you fight off the flue as well as the winter blues. - Raw pumpkin, beet and sauerkraut salad