Sunday, November 13, 2016

Savory Sunday: Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

Guest post by Shelby Smith

    Want to save a little money or add a new tradition to the fall holidays? Toasting your own pumpkin seeds is fun, a little messy, and saves ingredients from being wasted. Freshly carved pumpkins for outdoor decorations can all be used for this recipe.
Ingredients
  • Pumpkin seeds from any fresh pumpkin.
  • Whatever seasoning you like: Salt, Old Bay, or ranch seasoning.
  • One sheet tray.
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  3. Open and gut any pumpkin. Place the seeds in a spaghetti strainer. Rinse seeds clean with water until all the pumpkin guts are gone.
  4. Spread the seeds in an even layer on the baking sheet and season generously with whatever you want. I used salt and Old Bay seasoning.
  5. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the shell just pops open when you bite them. You can flip the seeds over half-way through the cooking process if you want.
  6. Serve when they are still warm or store them for later.

This is a quick snack that could be a nice addition to lunch or as an addition to a trail mix. If you want more butter flavor you can bake the seeds with butter and the seasoning. Pumpkin seeds can be both sweet and savory. For "sweet" seeds, try toasting them with pumpkin pie spices or with cinnamon and sugar. Be sure to set a few un-toasted seeds for planting next year!

"Savory Sunday" is a new weekly blog series with seasonal recipes from the garden.
About the Author:
Shelby Smith is a senior double major in multi-platform journalism and film studies at the University of Maryland College Park. She was a sports copy-editor for a campus publication called Unwind Magazine and a writer at The Campus Current newspaper at Anne Arundel Community College. 

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