The seeds of pumpkin are so small in size but are jam-packed full of nutrients and food value. You can eat just a small amount of the seeds and you will obtain a rich dose of healthy fats, zinc, and magnesium. Therefore, pumpkin seeds are considered to be beneficial for centuries now. The major health benefits from any pumpkin seeds recipe include improving heart health, being anti-cancerous, and protecting prostate health.
The best part about pumpkin seeds is that you can easily make it a part of your regular diet. This article will tell you so much about the values of the seeds and yummiest ways in which you can add them to your diet. So, let us proceed and see what is there in store for you.
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Delicious pumpkin seeds recipe
Check out some of the most amazing pumpkins seed recipe that you can easily cook at home:
1. Cherry-pumpkin breakfast cookies
These are on-the-going yummy treats that are fully packed with fiber and protein. Munching on a few of these breakfast cookies means that you are going to stay full till lunchtime straight. It requires simple baking processes but can be time-consuming.
Ingredients:
- Whole wheat flour
- Dried cherries
- Traditional oats
- Salted and roasted pumpkin seeds or pepitas
- Baking soda
- Eggs
- Pumpkin pie spice
- Brown sugar
- Salt
- Coconut oil
- Pure pumpkin
Process:
- Pour measured quantities of all the ingredients depending on the volume of cookies you want to bake. Now whisk all of it very well to turn everything into a grainy mixture. The consistency of the mixture must be correct. It means that it should not be runny at all. Well, cookie mixture is usually a little on the stickier and dry side and is heavy too.
- Take a pinch of the mixture and taste it for any changes or adjustments in seasoning.
- Now take a parchment paper and brush a small amount of butter on it. Now scoop out the cookie dough and place like mounds on the sheet. Remember, the mounds must be at least 2-inches apart from each other. It will give them some space to fluff out. Make sure you flatten the mounds before putting the tray inside.
- Set the oven at 350- degrees F and bake for at least 25-30 minutes or till the bottom of the cookies become dark brown.
- Now take the cookies out and lay them on a wire rack to let them cool completely.
- Eat some of them fresh and wrap the rest in plastic sheets.
- You can toast them once and have it later.
2. Butternut mole enchiladas
These are beans and squash enchiladas and they are the perfect combination of nuts and sweet. Also, before you start with the recipe, peel off the butternut squash properly. You need just one hour to make a nice bowl of this Mexican treat with a pumpkin twist. They are one of the most innovative pumpkin seeds recipes on this list.
Ingredients:
- Butternut squash that is nicely peeled and chopped into pieces of ½ inches each.
- Cilantro and toasted pepitas (just for the dressing)
- Olive oil
- Avocado
- Chili powder
- Crumbled queso fresco
- Kosher salt
- Black beans
- Pepper
- Soft corn tortillas
- Tomato sauce
- Semi-sweet chocolate
- Garlic
- Peanut butter
- Onions
- Lime juice
- Cinnamon powder
Process:
- Pre-heat oven at a 400°F. Now take a rimmed baking sheet and toss the squash with oil, pinch each salt, chili powder and Now roast everything until soft, 15 to 25 minutes. Set the tray aside and reduce the oven temperature to 350°F
- In the meantime, make some sauce: In a blender, puree tomato sauce, lime juice, garlic, chipotle chili, onion, cinnamon and a 1/4 teaspoon each pepper and salt until silky and smooth. Transfer to a saucepan and now cook on medium 4 minutes. To it, add chocolate and peanut butter, and keep stirring until it melts and it is smooth. Now remove it from heat.
- Now you have to coat a 13″ by 9″ baking dish with any nonstick cooking spray, and then spread evenly 1/3 of the mole sauce on the bottom of it. Next, fill each of the tortillas with a 1/4 cup squash and a tablespoon of black beans and also some Now roll and place open side down in prepared dish.
- Spoon some more mole on top, and cover to bake 20 minutes. Uncover it and cover with the remaining mole and again bake for 5 more minutes. Remove from the oven and garnish with some avocado, toasted pepitas, queso fresco, and cilantro.
3. Pumpkin seeds brittle
This one is another fun and yet simple pumpkin seeds recipe. These crunchy treats added with warm cinnamon and raw pepitas makes a lovely combination of sweet meets savory.
Ingredients:
- Cooking spray
- Pepitas (shelled variety)
- Sugar
- Salt
- Cinnamon powder
Process:
- First, take a 9*13 inches rimmed baking tray and line it with some parchment paper. Now splash a modest amount of cooking spray on it and place it on top of a wire rack.
- On the other hand, take a medium-sized saucepan and place a candy thermometer in it. Now pour in some sugar, water, salt, and cinnamon and let it come up to a boil. Wait till the sugar is completely dissolved. Now keep stirring and check when the temperature is reaching a 238 degrees F.
- Now pour in the pumpkin seeds and again keep stirring for 5-6 minutes more till the temperature reaches about 290 degrees F.
- Remove the saucepan from the stove and empty the contents on the sprayed baking tray. Now take a rubber spatula and splash some cooking spray on this too. You will use it to flatten the surface of the molten mixture. Make it into a thin layer.
- Now freeze it for an hour. Once it is hard, peel off the parchment paper from the back of the layer. Break the brittle into small pieces and store it nicely in some air-tight container.
4. Pumpkin soup with seeds
It is a creamy, warm and delightful dish with all the goodness of pumpkin. It is easy to make and your family is going to love it too.
Ingredients:
- Chicken stock
- Black pepper
- Salt
- Heavy whipped cream
- Pumpkin puree
- Minced garlic
- Chopper parsley
- Chopped thyme
- Chopped onion
- Pepitas
Process:
- Heat the chicken stock and put in some salt, peppercorns, pumpkin, garlic, thyme, and onion. Now let it boil and then lower the flame. Now again let this cook for 1/2 an hour more without the lid.
- Next, empty the pan and let the contents cool down a little. Then, use a blender or food processor to make a smooth puree.
- Now again transfer the puree into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer for 1/2 an hour and stir in heavy whipping cream to this.
- Your soup is ready. Just pour into soup bowls and garnish with some pepitas, parsley and coriander.
As you can see from all the recipes, pumpkin seeds are mostly used as toppings, garnish or at the most mixed with salad dressings. The conclusion is that it is extremely easy to add pepitas to almost any of your favorite dishes. Just be a little innovative and there you are ready with a yummy dish full of the goodness of pumpkin seeds.
Benefits of pumpkin seeds
You must be curious to know what benefits these small seeds have in store for you. So, here you go!
1. All-in-one nutrition
The other name for pumpkin seeds in ‘pepita’ and it is a Spanish-Mexican term. There are two ways in which pumpkins seeds are sold. The first variety is the carving pumpkin that contains white and hard seeds. The other variety is the one that you mostly get in the supermarkets.
The second variety of seeds come without any hard shells and look oval in shape and green in color. They are flat too. Just an ounce or 28 gm of the better variety of seeds contain as much as 151 kcal. The main source of the calories are protein and fat and so they are healthy. Apart from this, the other nutritional benefits in a pound of green pumpkin seeds are-
- 7 gm fat
- 19 % of copper RDI
- 13 gm fat out of which half contributes to Omega 6
- 14% of zinc RDI
- 18% of Vitamin K RDI
- 23% of iron RDI
- 33% of phosphorus RDI
- 37% of Magnesium RDI
- 42% of manganese RDI
Apart from all of these, pumpkin seeds are rich in antioxidant values and also contain high quantities of polyunsaturated fat. They also contain folate and riboflavin Vitamin B2.
2. Antioxidants
Pumpkin seeds are great antioxidants and contain high amounts of Vitamin E and carotenoids and so pumpkin seeds recipe can work wonders for you. Antioxidants reduce inflammation and also fight harmful and free radicals from affecting your cells.
It is the main reason why you are insuring yourself against several diseases with regular intake of a rich source of an antioxidant such as this. Also, most of the health benefits credit of pumpkin seeds go to the fact it is rich in antioxidant levels.
3. Anti-cancer
Incorporating pumpkin seeds recipe into your daily diet means you are successfully safeguarding yourself against several diseases. Can you beat that level of comfort? You get yummy food that is extremely healthy too.
Consumption of pumpkin seeds can indeed fight against some of the most dangerous forms of cancers such as stomach, colon, lung, breast and prostate cancers. Several observations performed to justify the importance of pumpkin seeds have come up with the same conclusion. All of the experts say that the consumption of pumpkin seeds regularly is helpful to prevent breast cancer in women after menopause.
4. Better bladder and prostate health
Pumpkin seeds are so good that they can even prevent something as risky as BPH or benign prostate hyperplasia. There is a record of several studies that have come up with the reports that talk about pumpkin seed properties that help to lower the risks of BPH.
Studies are still on to find a healthy way of using pumpkin seeds in the form of health supplements too. Well, BPH is a condition in with there is an abnormal enlargement of the prostate glands that cause urination problems.
So, by now you must have understood that men and women can obtain an equal amount of benefits from pumpkin seeds as well as simple pumpkin seeds recipe.
5. Heart health
Pumpkin seeds are very rich in several antioxidants, fibers, and good fats. They are all extremely helpful when we are considering the improvement of heart health.
Pumpkin seeds recipe contains high amounts of monosaturated fatty acids. It means that such food can enable the increase in good cholesterol by lowering the bad ones. Besides, the richness in magnesium ensures proper regularization of levels of blood pressure.
6. For good sleep
Serotonin is a kind of chemical that is known as the sleeping pill of nature in the books of medicine. Now, pumpkin seeds are rich sources of tryptophan, which is again a type of amino acid.
The tryptophan later converts into the fantastic serotonin chemical making sure that you sleep well at night. So, you can have just a handful of pumpkin seeds to get some sound sleep.
7. Improves immunity
Pumpkin seeds contain a lot of phytochemicals and antioxidants and both of these are capable of improving your immunity system. What’s better is that such contents also help in the prevention of immunity-related ailments such as common infections and allergies, cold, fatigue, flu and so on.
8. A blessing for diabetics
Pumpkin seeds are not just capable of lowering oxidative stress, but it can also improve the levels of insulin regulation in your body. The seeds are a good source of digestive protein and this helps to regulate the level of blood sugar.
9. Weight loss
You can snack on pumpkin seeds for weight loss because they can help to keep you full for quite some time. It is because the seeds contain a lot of fiber and so it takes time to digest them completely, thus keeping you fuller. Also, a full tummy means you will not indulge in any kind of binge-eating, helping you to lose weight.
10. Hair growth
The cucurbitacin content in pumpkin seeds works as amino acid and works well for hair growth. Besides, the seeds are also rich sources of Vitamin C, which are also good for hair growth. You can either apply an oil made from pumpkin seeds or just consume a handful of these every day.
Final thoughts
From here, you have learned some of the yummy pumpkin seeds recipe and also the major benefits of pumpkin seeds. So, won’t you like to add some of these crunchy-munchy seedy delights to your diet?
