Pumpkins: Not Just for Pie Anymore!

[Royal]

This fall, pumpkins will be spending less time on the front porch and more on dinner menus, thanks to their new-found superfood status (see below). Plus they're amazingly versatile: Pureed, mashed, or cubed, pumpkins' mildly sweet taste can go even sweeter or savory, depending on how you spice it.

* At restaurants, look for pumpkin soups, bread, muffins, pumpkin-flavored pasta dishes (think gnocchi or ravioli), and decadent desserts, from cheesecake to gelato.
* At home, keep a few cans of pumpkin puree on hand and stir a big spoonful into almost anything: soups, stews, yogurt, curries, pancakes, even meatball mixtures.

In fact, there may be nothing you can't pump up with pumpkin -- including coffee: Starbucks' pumpkin spice latte boosted the chain's sales 11% when it debuted! Need an extra prod to try pumpkin in something besides pie? Here are a half-dozen reasons to go for the gourd.

1. It gives your immune system a pre-flu season boost. A ½ cup serving of pumpkin delivers a war chest of immune-boosting vitamins and nutrients, including alpha and beta-carotene, vitamin C, iron, and enough vitamin A to last you three days!

2. It fills you up for very few calories. A ½ cup of Libby's canned 100% pumpkin puree packs in 5g of stomach-satisfying fiber (20% of your daily intake) for only 40 calories. By comparison, a slice of whole-wheat bread has 2g of fiber and costs you 70 calories.

3. It's got the goods to protect your vision. Pumpkin delivers a duo of sight-saving carotenoid antioxidants (lutein and beta-cryptoxanthin) that reduce the risk of age-related cataracts and sight-stealing macular degeneration.

4. It keeps your body humming. Pumpkin is a great source of potassium, which keeps your cells, nerves, and muscles running smoothly. Healthy potassium levels also help keep blood pressure in check and can lower the odds of stroke and heart disease.

5. It could cut your cancer risk. A diet high in carotenoids can lower the risk of breast cancer, and beta-cryptoxanthin, a carotenoid that's particularly plentiful in pumpkin, may help protect against lung cancer. Aim to get your beta-carotene from foods like pumpkin, since supplements don't offer the same cancer protection.

6. It gives your bones a little extra love. You'll also pick up a little extra bone-building calcium with each serving. Plus beta-cryptoxanthin defends against joint-destroying rheumatoid arthritis.

P.S. Wondering about canned versus fresh pumpkin? Canned is a little less sweet but, surprisingly, it's a little more nutritious. It has more fiber, beta-carotene, potassium, iron, and folate than fresh. It also wins huge points for convenience! And all that filling fiber pays off in more ways than appetite control: Eating a high-fiber diet can make your RealAge up to 3.5 years younger. botta (http://food.yahoo.com/blog/beautyeats/18561/pumpkins-not-just-for-pie-anymore)

More Pumpkin reciepies: Manbittan (http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=pumpkin+recipes&fr=yfp-t-471-s&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8?p=yahoo&fr=fp-today&cs=bz&sado=1)

[~Atirgul~]

Iltimos maslahat kerak
US ning pumpkin larini tozalash juda qiyin ekan, pustlog'i juda qattim, toshga ushaydi, pichoq ham utmaydi. BIr kuni qovoq manti qilaman deb turmush urtog'imga oldirgandim, ishonaslami ular qovoqni 2 soat tozalaganlar:)
SIlar qovoqni qanaqa tozalayslar? Balkim boshqa usuli bordir biza bilmaydigan

[Royal]

Iltimos maslahat kerak
US ning pumpkin larini tozalash juda qiyin ekan, pustlog'i juda qattim, toshga ushaydi, pichoq ham utmaydi. BIr kuni qovoq manti qilaman deb turmush urtog'imga oldirgandim, ishonaslami ular qovoqni 2 soat tozalaganlar:)
SIlar qovoqni qanaqa tozalayslar? Balkim boshqa usuli bordir biza bilmaydigan

uzr siz manti uchun qaysi qovoqni oldilar ozi ?

1. oyuim qovoqmi (sariq uzunchoq turi) yoki 2. kartishka qovoq (yashil yumalaoq lekin pachoqroq turi)?

1 chisidan manti qilinadi, 2chisini shundoq duhovkagha qoyilsa patnisni ustiga qoyip unadanma zor pishgan dimlama qavoq chiqadi...

[Uz_Yasmin]

Iltimos maslahat kerak
US ning pumpkin larini tozalash juda qiyin ekan, pustlog'i juda qattim, toshga ushaydi, pichoq ham utmaydi. BIr kuni qovoq manti qilaman deb turmush urtog'imga oldirgandim, ishonaslami ular qovoqni 2 soat tozalaganlar:)
SIlar qovoqni qanaqa tozalayslar? Balkim boshqa usuli bordir biza bilmaydigan


First, scrub the outside of the pumpkin with a vegetable brush. Cut the pumpkin in half and use a spoon to scrape out the fibers and the seeds. A serrated grapefruit spoon works great for this. Cut the pumpkin halves into smaller pieces, then place them skin side up in a shallow baking dish. Add water to just cover the bottom of the dish, and cover tightly. Bake in a 325 degree oven until the pumpkin is fork tender. The time will vary depending on the size of your pieces. Let it cool, and then either cut off the peel or scoop out the flesh. I hope this helps.

[Royal]

Iltimos maslahat kerak
US ning pumpkin larini tozalash juda qiyin ekan, pustlog'i juda qattim, toshga ushaydi, pichoq ham utmaydi. BIr kuni qovoq manti qilaman deb turmush urtog'imga oldirgandim, ishonaslami ular qovoqni 2 soat tozalaganlar:)
SIlar qovoqni qanaqa tozalayslar? Balkim boshqa usuli bordir biza bilmaydigan

har qandoq qavoqni mantigayu somsaga butunlay solinmaganidan keyin uni 8-10ga bolip sabzi artgich bilan artish oson bolarkan...keyin bemalol ishlash mumkin unda.

palavinkani maslahati...

[sheherzade]

I love pumpkin dishes very much. At the Tamil shops in my neighborhood I can get butternut squash all year round.

Here are two of my favorite recipes:

Persian stew of lamb and pumpkin:

Chop 1 onion, 2 cloves garlic, 1 piece fresh ginger (about the size of a walnut) and sauté in a little vegetable oil. Add lamb diced into 1 inch pieces (about 750 g. for 4 servings), keep stirring until meat changes colour. Add 1-2 spoonfuls of tomato concentrate, salt, pepper and chili powder to taste, 1/2 tsp. of turmeric, a few threads of saffron and a piece of cinnamon rind (or half tsp. of ground cinnamon). Add just enough water to cover meat, cook on low heat until meat is tender.
Meanwhile peel pumpkin and cut into cubes same size as meat. Fry on low heat in two tbsp. of vegetable oil. When pumpkin pieces start to brown and soften, sprinkle with salt and pepper and add to the cooked meat. Continue cooking on very slow heat until pumpkin is tender, but don't let pumpkin disintegrate. About five minutes before pumpkin is ready, add a handful of pitted dried prunes.

Serve with Basmati rice and a salad.

The pumpkin stew recipe is from an Irani website; ginger, cinnamon and chili powder are my own additions.

The second recipe I found on a Mac computer while doing a QuarkXpress course many years ago. Never again looked at QuarkXpress since (terribly boring, once I even fell asleep during the lesson), but the tarte has become one of my favorites. I often have to bake it for family feasts and picnics.


Pumpkin tarte:

Dough:

150 gr. wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
75 gr. low fat curd cheese
3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp milk
salt

Filling:

500 gr. pumpkin
30 gr. dried tomatoes in oil (approx. 3 tbsp oil)
2 garlic cloves
1 onion
1 fresh red chili pepper
freshly ground black pepper, salt


3 eggs
150 g thick cream
2 tbsp chopped herbs (thyme, sage, rosemary)
150 gr. Feta cheese
50 gr. black olives


Preparation:

Knead dough ingredients to make a smooth dough, roll out and lay in greased baking dish (about 26 cm diameter), also forming a rim. Cut pumpkin into pieces something like double matchstick size. Cut drained tomatoes into strips. Sauté diced onion, chopped garlic, chopped chilli and tomato strips for 3 minutes in oil from the dried tomatoes. Add pumpkin stripes and sauté for another 5 minutes, add salt and pepper. Let it cool a bit.

Whisk cream and eggs, add herbs. Add pumpkin to baking dish, distributing evenly. Pour cream and eggs mixture over pumpkin. Top with crumbled Feta cheese and olives.

Bake in preheated oven at 200° C for approx. 45 minutes (the recipe mentions 30 minutes, but it always takes longer in my oven).

Can be eaten both warm or cold.

Afyet olsun!

PS. For those who don't know what curd cheese (quark) is, you can find out all about it at wikipedia.org