Pumpkin is a member of the Cucurbita family, which includes squash and cucumbers. Pumpkins are grown in most parts of the world. It’s rich in potassium and Vitamin A and contains 90% water. In the USA 80% of the pumpkin supply is available in October.
This is a shot of a small pumpkin market Mr. Munro and I discovered during our visit to Maine a few years ago. (The photo was scanned, hence the black surrounding).
We were fascinated because we don’t have anything like this in New Zealand. We don’t carve pumpkins or eat pumpkin pie (as a rule). As a child, we ate pumpkin whenever we had a roast dinner or sometimes we’d have mashed pumpkin. These days our favorite way to eat pumpkin is in a salad.
Here’s the recipe:
Pumpkin, peeled and chopped into 2-3cm pieces
2 tsp oil
300g can of Chickpeas, well drained
250g round green beans, blanched
1 small red onion, peeled and finely sliced
8 black olives (optional)
1/4 cup of your favorite vinaigrette dressing (we like a balsamic dressing)
150g feta cheese, diced
1/4 cup roughly chopped parsley
Method
1. Combine prepared pumpkin and oil, toss well until lightly coated, season with salt and pepper. Arrange on a baking paper lined oven tray.
2. Cook at 200°C for 25-30 minutes or until golden and tender.
3. Combine the chickpeas, cooked green beans, slices red onion, olives, add warm roasted pumpkin and vinaigrette dressing. Toss gently until well combined.
4. Arrange salad on a platter, scatter with feta and parsley leaves. Serve immediately.
My husband and I like this salad hot but it’s equally good cold, after the pumpkin and green beans have cooled. To vary the salad we sometimes use a can of mixed beans (with kidney beans, chickpeas etc) rather than straight chickpeas.
Do you like pumpkin? What’s your favorite way to eat pumpkin? If you’re in the US, have you carved a pumpkin this year?
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October 31st, 2008 at 1:48 am · Link
As with NZ, we here in Oz don’t carve pumpkins. I do love pumpkin soup, though I need to give your recipe a bash at some time.
October 31st, 2008 at 2:05 am · Link
Absolutely love pumpkin pie with nutmeg and ginger spices, preferably homemade the way my mother used to make it.
October 31st, 2008 at 6:04 am · Link
Popping in a bit late to say thank you Shelley for letting me guest on your blog this week! It was lots of fun
October 31st, 2008 at 11:02 am · Link
We have pumpkins but no Halloween traditions, so they’re not All Over the Place.
I’d like a receipe for a pumpkin soup, though.
October 31st, 2008 at 11:56 am · Link
My pumpkins are carved. Thankfully the snow is melting and it’s warm here.
I make a pumpkin pasta that is yummo, and there’s this stuffed pumpkin recipe that is good (just takes some time and my energy is sapped). Still nothing beats pumpkin pie warm with whipped cream.
October 31st, 2008 at 2:45 pm · Link
Gabriele – I’ll post a pumpkin soup recipe for you later tonight.
Eleni – I like pumpkin soup, too. Very yummy!
Barbara – I remember my mother making pumpkin pie once when we were kids. We all tried it with great suspicion since pumpkin is a vegetable here and not usually eaten as a sweet.
Christina – no problem. It was fun having you visit. We’ll do it again soon.
Amy – I’m glad the snow is melting. I was telling hubby about you not being able to put out your graveyard last night. We went for a walk and all the kids were running around in costumes trick and treating.
October 31st, 2008 at 3:51 pm · Link
I love pumpkin bread, cakes, muffins, but I don’t like pumpkin pie. But I love pumpkin cheesecake. I know, it makes no sense. I carve a pumpkin every year and put a light in it and set it by the front door. This year I also have purple lights around the door. Sometimes I cut cornstalks and tie them to the porch railings, but I didn’t have any this year. I had a bad season for growing my garden. The corn didn’t grow.
October 31st, 2008 at 4:26 pm · Link
Pumpkin Pie! It’s right up there with French Silk Chocolate and Banana Cream. Love it. It’s actually my favorite part of the Halloween/Thanksgiving holiday season.
JS
October 31st, 2008 at 10:59 pm · Link
I haven’t carved a pumpkin in years because the pumpkins they have available in the UAE and Egypt are hideously expensive! I bought a ceramic jack o;lantern and make do with that instead :)
I do love pumpkin pie and pumpkin bread though – yum!
November 1st, 2008 at 9:53 am · Link
I’ve never heard of eating pumpkin in salad
have a good weekend
November 1st, 2008 at 1:10 pm · Link
Nancy, that’s weird. Our corn didn’t grow very well last season either. I think Mr. Munro has given up on corn.
Jory – hi! It sounds like you’re a pie kinda of girl.
Jenyfer – it’s a wonder they don’t grow pumpkins in the Nile Delta. They’re pretty easy to grow.
Terra – hello. This salad is delicious and very easy to make. You should try it.
November 1st, 2008 at 8:36 pm · Link
I love everything pumpkin too! I usually don’t make the pie until Thanksgiving though, because I will eat the whole thing. lol
November 2nd, 2008 at 7:38 am · Link
Shelley – I stand corrected : my neighbor bought two pumpkins to carve this year and they were actually pretty reasonable. But “expensive” still sounds better than “lazy” as an excuse for not carving my own jack o’lanterns!! :D
November 2nd, 2008 at 12:00 pm · Link
Jenyfer – personally, I’d prefer to eat a pumpkin than carve one. Don’t you need special tools for carving? I don’t know much about this carving business.
November 3rd, 2008 at 12:20 am · Link
No special tools really – my dad always just used a fillet knife. Now HE was an awesome pumpkin carver! I regret that we never took pictures of any of his creations.