Pumpkin Seeds - A great snack

Yesterday we talked about not throwing away the seeds when you clean out a pumpkin.  I can't believe some people just throw the seeds away!  Most people love snacking on roasted sunflower seeds.  Pumpkin seeds are good to eat and they are good for you, too.  It's so easy to roast them.  When you scoop out all the seeds and strings from the inside of your pumpkin, try to separate the strings from the seeds.

Cup of pumpkin seeds

Put the seeds in a colander and wash them real good to remove the slime and strings.  You'll have to pick out any stringy stuff you see.

Washing the seeds

I looked up several recipes for roasting seeds and one said to boil the seeds for 10 minutes as this makes them more digestible.  Unlike sunflower seeds, you can eat the pumpkin seeds' shell as well as the seed.

Boiling the seeds

Then I poured the seeds and water through a colander to drain off the water and I laid out the boiled seeds on a dishrag to dry them off.

Drying the seeds

We then put them in a baking pan with some pats of butter and sprinkled some kosher salt on them.  You can be adventurous with different spices as well.  The last time we did this, we also sprinkled them with garlic powder and they came out great.  I'm sure they'd be delicious with Tony Chachere's or another Creole Seasoning added.

Ready to go into the oven

You put them in an oven pre-heated to 350 degrees and let them roast for 30 minutes or until they are light golden brown.  Pull them out, let them cool and they are ready to eat.

Outta the oven

Pop a few in your hand and eat them.  You can eat the shells and all.  They are crispy/crunchy and flavorful.

Couple of pumpkin seeds

For those that you don't immediately eat, you can put them into a Zip Loc bag for snacking on later... 

A bag of pumpkin seeds for snacking

Tomorrow will be the final installment in the pumpkin series - my favorite (and it's not pumpkin pie, either!)