Squash Archives - A Byte of Life

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

The leaves are changing, the mornings are colder, and the urge to get cozy under a blanket with a cup of tea is creeping. This means only one thing…it’s pumpkin season! One of my favorite things about Seattle is that we actually get seasons. Spring is rainy, summer is gorgeous, fall is crisp and cozy and while we don’t get snow every winter it has been known to dump a few inches every few years.

Fall might be my favorite season to cook. So many comfort foods like potato leek soup, Ratatouille, butternut squash and my personal favorite- anything with roasted pumpkin. Most people get excited about carving pumpkins and drinking pumpkin spice lattes. I get equally excited about hacking a pumpkin open and roasting that delicious goodness! Cube it and add to salads, make pumpkin soup, puree it for baked goods, add some sautéed spinach and toasted quinoa and you have a wholesome hearty vegan meal.

Roasted pumpkin seeds are a great snack, party appetizer, salad addition or kitchen adventure with aspiring little chefs! The recipe is super simple and can be personalized in so many ways!

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Prep Time: About 10 minute to scoop out pumpkin and remove stringy parts from seed
Cook Time: Aprox. 20 minutes

Rice Bran Oil
Pumpkin or squash seeds
Grey or pink salt
Baking tray
Paper towels
Bowl

Scoop out the pumpkin and separate the seeds from the stringy insides. Pinching the seeds while you run the strainer under cold water works to remove most of the stringy parts. Line a baking tray with paper towels. Wash the seeds in a strainer, being sure to remove all the stringy parts, and them flat the lined baking sheet. Pat the top of the seeds with a paper towel, it’s okay if they stick a little! Just remove the seeds from the paper towel and keep patting.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Put the seeds in a bowl and toss with oil. I recommend rice bran oil since it doesn’t have a taste and it has a high burn point ensuring that it’s good for baking and grilling. You can also use grapeseed oil, safflower oil or avocado oil. Those each have their own slight taste so it depends on what flavor your’e going with. Add a few pinches of salt, toss, and add a bit more salt. You can add to taste depending one how much you like salt. I use it sparingly.

Remove the paper towels from your baking tray and spread out the oiled seeds on the tray. You won’t need to add additional oil to the tray. Shake the pan out a bit so that most of the seeds are laying in one single layer. Some of the seeds will overlap, which is just fine!

Place the baking sheet in the oven. Turn seeds after ten minutes then allow them to roast until the corners of thee seeds start to brown. Depending on your oven, this could be between 17-25 minutes.

Remove the tray from the oven and allow the seeds to completely cool. Roasted seeds will keep in an airtight container for up to four days!

The Kitchn has a few amazing ideas for other ways to flavor pumpkin seeds:

Sweet Pumpkin Seeds: Omit or reduce the salt and roast the seeds on parchment-lined baking sheet. Let cool, then toss with brown sugar or a little maple syrup. Not too much, just enough to lightly coat the seeds. You can also add cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg or other ‘sweet’ spices. Toss well to coat evenly. Return the tray to the oven and continue to roast for another 10 to 15 minutes or so.

Sweet-Hot Pumpkin Seeds: Toss the seeds with a little honey and sriracha or chili flakes. A little cumin might be nice, or curry powder. Roast as with sweet seeds.

Savory Pumpkin Seeds: Add herbs such as chopped rosemary, dried oregano and/or spices such as smoked paprika, chili powder, cumin to the seeds before roasting. Check carefully to be sure the herbs and spices aren’t browning too quickly. If so, roast at a sightly lower heat.

Quick & Easy Fall Meal: Delicata Squash, Quinoa, Chicken

There are nights that you get home and the LAST thing you want to do is cook. But, a bowl of cereal just isn’t going to cut it either. Image one of those days then add a three day moving process where so many things wen’t wrong you’ve lost count, and you just want it all to be over. That’s how the past week has been. I’ve been tired before, but I’m pretty sure I’ve never felt this level of exhaustion…falling into bed because I can’t bear to keep my body upright or my eyes open any longer. But I also can’t seem to stomach the idea of consuming another meal that doesn’t come from my own kitchen. I vowed that tonight was be the night, without and idea of what magic would happen to result in a consumable meal.

A quick triage of the fridge, pantry and cooking dishes quickly indicated that tonight was going to be a “throw together” meal and it was time to get a little creative. This was one of the meals where I just started chopping, sautéing and hoping that adding enough herbs would do the trick to result in a meal that was worth eating. There are a few kitchen staples that are always on hand (a post to come about that!) so that I can throw together a decent meal on little time and minimal ingredients and effort. One of my go-to fall meals is a simple combination of toasted quinoa, butternut squash and toasted chickpeas. I decided to do a variation on this meal with some delicata squash I picked up at the market and a few frozen chicken breast I had in the freezer. I have to admit, there were a few points in the evening that I started to calculate how quickly a pizza could be delivered but the end result was just delicious! This is for sure getting added to the “fall staples” list! Delicata squash are a city chef’s dream. They’re much smaller than other fall and winter squash (save maybe acorn squash) so you’re not lugging 15 pounds of squash home and you don’t have to peel them! They’re super simple to thin slice and pan cook or roast in the oven on a foil sheet at 425 to get that delicious, caramel, melty, amazing squashey goodness!

To make this recipe vegetarian, substitute the chicken with toasted chickpeas.

Delicata Squash, Quinoa, Chicken

1 medium Delicata squash
2 chicken breast
1/2 cup dry quinoa
Fresh chopped or dried parsley
Cracked pepper to taste
Grapeseed oil

In a medium stock pot, toast the quinoa over medium heat, moving the quinoa in the pan, until you see it start to brown. Remove from heat, wash, place back in pan with 1 cup water, cracked pepper and fresh chopped or dried parsley. Cover and bring to a boil then turn off the heat and let it sit until the rest is ready.
Meanwhile, pre-heat a pan with grapeseed oil or any other high cooking heat oil. Wash Delicata squash exterior, cut in half, scrape out seeds and slice thin then add to the pre-heated pan with some fresh cracked pepper and parsley. Move in pan until lightly browned.
Cube the chicken and add to pan with the squash. Add cracked pepper and parsley to taste.
Move contents of pan chicken and squash are browned. Cut one of the pieces of chicken in half to assure it’s cooked throughout.
Serve in a bowl with peanut sauce, fig or stone fruit compote, or balsamic drizzle.

Butternut Squash Couscous (Vegetarian, Vegan, Meat Free, Dairy Free)

The way that I describe this dish, is a middle eastern version of fried rice. It’s a great meal the throw together and one that you can experiment with spices that you don’t likely use in your daily cooking. The original recipe calls for a steaming method of cooking, which is the traditional method. I neglected to read the directions before I started the recipe and didn’t think we even owned a steamer! Well, after I completely revamped the entire cooking method, I realized that we DO have a steamer so I guess I’ll try that next time!

Couscous is very low in fat, and has about the same in protein, fiber and carbs as quinoa. Quinoa beats couscous in the mineral content, but couscous packs an amazing 87% of your daily suggested intake. About 55mcg is suggested daily and couscous has 43mcg per once cup serving. Selenium has antioxidant properties, can help the body regulate the thyroid hormones, support a healthy immune system, and aid in metabolism. One of selenium’s most important roles is as an antioxidant helping to prevent cell damage due to free radicals. (Sources: WebMD and Eating Well)

One VERY important thing that I did not note, until I’d already washed and set aside four cups of couscous, is the water to couscous ratio in this recipe. Much like rice or quinoa, there is a two to one ratio for water to couscous. Now, this recipe called for 4 cups of dry couscous. Four cups of dry couscous is quite a large portion, borderline obscene actually. I only realized this fact at the very moment where I was pouring the 8 cups of water and 4 cups of couscous into my stove top pan and it was nearly brimming over. And, I hadn’t event started it boiling yet! My denial for the amount of couscous I was in the middle of making could no longer be indulged and I pulled out the large stock pot and transferred my absurd amount of couscous into the larger pot. While there was much more couscous than I would normally cook, about 9 servings worth, the ratio of the other ingredients worked perfectly. The only thing I would change is to maybe try cutting the couscous by half.

To serve, mix the roasted zucchini and butternut squash, chickpeas, raisins and sautéed onion together in a bowl and add a little more chopped parsley. (Typically, chickpeas from a can are already cooked but double-check.) Add in the couscous and stir well. The couscous will be a little gummy which is possibly due to my cooking method and not steaming it as directed. Garnish with more fresh parsley if you wish. You can also add grilled chicken or tofu to this if you want more protein like I usually do.

Squash Couscous
Yield: 9 cups of couscous + a good amount of veggies for 4 people
Recipe and method adapted from the recipe on Canadian Living
*Note: Due to preference and feeding two people versus 6, I suggest cutting the couscous, chicken stock and water in half. If you LOVE couscous or have a lot of people to feed, keep the recipe as is!

Ingredients
1 1/2 lb (one medium large) butternut squash, peeled and chopped in 2 inch cubed
2 large zucchini, sliced into 2 inch cubes
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1/2 cup raisins
2 cups ( 1 15 oz can) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/4 c chicken bullion paste for chicken stock
8 cups water
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp turmeric
4 cups Israeli couscous ( I only had 3 cups, so I added one cup of the golden small couscous
additional parsley to garnish

Directions
Wash and chop the zucchini and butternut squash. Don’t forget to de-seed the squash. Lay out on aluminum foil on a baking sheet and roast at 450 for 30-45 minutes. Turning every 10 -15 min. Wash the couscous and set aside.

Chop the onion and fry it on the stove with some olive oil in a large stock pot. Set aside in a large bowl which you’ll use to mix up the rest of the ingredients. Drain and rinse the chickpeas and add to the bowl, along with the raisins and some more parsley (to taste). Add the zucchini and butternut squash to this bowl once they’re browned on all sides.

Bring 8 cups of water to a boil in the large stock pot you used for the onions. Stir in the 1/4 cup of bullion, parsley, ginger, pepper, salt, and turmeric. Let boil together for a few minutes. Add the couscous and let it come back to a boil. Be sure to stir it all up every few minutes. Cook until the couscous soaks up the broth and get’s to a consistency you like.

Add the couscous to your large bowl with the onions, raisins and chickpeas, zucchini and butternut squash and stir. Garnish with additional parsley if you wish.

Tonight we’re eating this with some delicious bone in pork chops that are currently brining, but you can serve with grilled chicken, boiled eggs, firm tofu, or grilled steak. The options are endless!

Spaghetti Squash- A simple fall meal

Fall is on its way… leaves are turning colors, the air is crisp and the pumpkin spice latte signs abound. Today it feels like a cozy grey blanket was spread across the city, and it’s tucked up under my chin making me feel like I’ve found the warm part of the bed and don’t want to rustle the covers. You know what I’m talking about? It’s the same feeling as the morning when you wake up and the mattress is perfectly indented with your body and you can feel the cold air in the room on your nose but under the covers it’s all warm! Well, that’s how today feels.

I LOVE fall! Boot season, reaching for scarves, leaves turning, impending holidays in the planning… I love ALL that fall brings with it but mostly I LOVE Fall cooking! I can’t walk past a pumpkin without sizing it up for how much pumpkin it would yield for after roasting, mentally creating a cutting plan in my head of how I would slice it to fit on a roasting sheet!

One of my fall favorites is spaghetti squash. It is such a simple and warming dish to make for those nights you don’t want to spend your night in the kitchen making dinner! I love to make extra and pour cinnamon and soy milk over it the next morning for breakfast or pack some for lunch sprinkled with cheese! I was going to write my own recipe and include pictures BUT as luck would have it one of my favorite food blogs to read, Roost, posted this very day (yep you guessed it!) Spaghetti Squash!

Caitlin is the author and creator of Roost, and her photography is out of this world! I want to curl up and live in every picture she takes while I devour ALL of the lovely food! She created Roost when her husband was diagnosed with Crohn’s and focused on all things gluten-free. In this recipe, She makes her spaghetti squash with meatballs and sauce, but I love to make my Roasted Fennel and Tomato Dressing and Homemade Turkey Meatballs!

So, head on over to Roost for the Spaghetti Squash Pasta with Meatballs recipe and gawk at her lovely photos and let me know how you dress up your spaghetti squash! Feel free to post your own recipes in the comments!

Happy Fall Everyone!