Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Mr. D's Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

I think this blogging thing is catchy... wanna know why? I caught my hubby trying a new recipe all on his own.  Not only was he just trying a new recipe, but he was taking pictures of the step by step process, you know, in case I wanted to blog about it.  It was a beautiful sight.  I was so proud.  He picked out something he had been wanting to do for a year or two, but I had never been that keen on it because of the "gross" factor.  Namely pumpkin guts.  Each year he suggests we roast the seeds, and then I tend to gaze at the big ol' pile of slimy stringy pumpkin innards and think they don't look all that appetizing. But guess what people?  I was WRONG. So very wrong. That's right.  I apologize Honey for ever doubting you because once we roasted these little babies, I actually ended up liking them, nay snacking on them.  AND -  they are suppose to be pretty healthy, high in fiber, and all that extra bonus stuff.

Roasted pumpkin seeds - a crispy, crunchy, tasty snack
We happened to carve five pumpkins this year and once we cleaned them all out, we had about two cups of pumpkin seeds.  He found an online recipe here, and altered it only slightly.  Okay so how do you make them?  You have dug  out your seeds. They recommend not cleaning them off all the way. Take out the major chunks of pumpkin strings and goop, but it is alright to leave some of it on, it adds "flavor".  Preheat your oven to 300ยบ.

I'm resisting the gross out slimy factor here... I'm still doubting the recipe at this time
  
Add one tablespoon of melted butter and coat the pumpkin seeds


Next you want to toss the seeds in the flavoring of your choice.  Mr. D got all creative here and wanted to try two, that's right TWO different flavors on our first time out. He separated the seeds evenly into 1 cup portions. First we went with a classic seasoning salt

Johnny's Seasoning Salt is awesome!
Then, and I think this is where I am my most proud.  He went way back into the spice rack, and came out with: Grill Mates Mojito Lime seasoning.  Never in my life would I have picked that flavor.  I thought for sure that at the very least, it would be a completely "out there" flavor and he could have these as his own personal snack.  That no one else would touch them....

Who has ever heard of lime mojito pumpkin seeds... before now, I mean.
Once your seasonings are mixed well, pour them onto a baking tray in a single layer.


After that place the tray(s) in the oven and let the low heat do it's magic for 45 mintues.  And by magic, I mean take these suspiciously sticky seeds and turn them into a hearty gourmet treat even I could not resist.  Be sure to turn the seeds a few times during the roasting process to make sure they cook evenly.  Under an hour later you will have this:

Lime Mojito roasted pumpkin seeds.  Who KNEW they would turn out this good?
Here are the seasoned salt ones:


I thought oh, I'll just try these simple seasoned salted ones and then walk away.  So I tried one and... hey it wasn't that bad.  Sort of like a big sunflower seed.  Okay okay, I'll give in and try the lime mojito ones... hey wait a second.  These were good.  Better than good.  These were tasty.  So tasty I might eat a second one.  The girls came over and I thought for sure they would only eat the plain salted ones, but we all ended up liking them both!  Who knew?  So now we have a whole new fun family tradition we can add to our harvest fun, and it is all thanks to my industrious hubby for sticking to his guns and making us love a brand new snack.  I realize now it only tastes a little like crow...


So don't throw out your pumpkin seeds this year!  Roast them with your favorite seasonings.  Other options would be garlic salt, cayenne, Cajun, it's up to you.  My youngest wants us to try cinnamon next.  Let me know what your favorite seasoning is!

3 comments:

Amelia said...

Hi Jenn, your roasted pumpkin seeds look tempting. I love to munch on this too but only get to roast the seeds when I make pumpkin dessert or bread.

Bookmark your recipe, will give it a try later.

Have a nice week ahead.

Jenn said...

Thanks Amelia! Thanks for the post. I think you might win the award for my farthest away commenter! Have a great week.

Jenn

Unknown said...

I put shelled pumpkin seeds on salad, because IMO they're tastier than sunflower seeds. But DH prefers sunflower, too bad because pumpkin seeds are good for the older guys prostates. I've heard that Kakai pumpkin seeds are paper thin, so one day when I'm better at gardening, I hope to try them, with you DH's Mohito Lime, since you made it sound SO appetizing ^_^

I left you a note about Annatto on http://planthungry.blogspot.com/2012/02/beware-of-carrageenan.html - Hopefully it won't matter, but good to know just in case it does. Annatto is almost as plentiful as Carrageenan, ugh!

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