Pumpkin for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Why not?

Did you have any pumpkins left here and there after Halloween? We had 2 medium-sized ones at home. This time I decided to make a good use of them in the kitchen. I didn't know right away what I would do with all of the pumpkin. But I thought that at least I'll prepare them in some way that they can be used in cooking over time. Here is what I did.

Different ways to store your pumpkins for future use

1. Pumpkin puree. First of all, I used one of the pumpkins to make pumpkin puree. I thought I could definitely use it later in some meals or desserts.

Simple pumpkin puree recipe

• Preheat oven to 325F
• Cut pumpkin in half, remove seeds and cover each half in foil
• Bake for 1 hour
• Scrape pumpkin meat from the skin and puree in a blender or food processor
• Store pumpkin puree in an airtight container in the fridge (I used all of it within 2 weeks)     

2. Shredded raw pumpkin. I shredded one half of the other pumpkin (raw, with skin removed) in a food processor to be used later in my porridge and baked oats.

I make my breakfast porridge in the pressure cooker. In the last couple of weeks when cooking steel cut or rolled oats or millet, I sometimes added about 1/4 cup of shredded pumpkin to a 1/2 cup of grain (for 2 portions) and used all the same cooking settings as I would normally use to make porridge. If you make your porridge on the stove, you would also cook it just your regular way.

Pumpkin millet morning porridge cooked in a pressure cooker

3. Cubed of chopped raw pumpkin. I just left the other pumpkin half (skin and seeds removed) in a Ziploc bag to be used later in the meals. I'm planning to use it for meals like pumpkin curry, chickpea pumpkin stew or a pumpkin soup.

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Using stored pumpkin in the meals

1. In the last 2 weeks I've used most of the shredded pumpkin in the morning porridge and baked oats.

Pumpkin baked oats recipe

Ingredients (1 serving):

• 1/2 cup GF rolled oats
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup shredded pumpkin
• 1 tbsp maple syrup (add more if prefer sweeter oats)
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp flax milk

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Mix all the ingredients and place the mixture in a small baking dish.
3. Bake for 25-30 minutes (until firm.)

2. I've used all of the pureed pumpkin for the pumpkin dessert bars and a delicious coconut pumpkin and kale gnocchi dinner (and a leftover lunch.)

No-bake pumpkin dessert bars recipe

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup pureed pumpkin
• 1/2 cup cashew butter
• 2 tbsp coconut oil (soft or melted, otherwise you might have pieces of coconut oil in the bars)
• 2 tbsp maple syrup (you can play with the amounts here depending on how sweet you want the bars to be; this was pretty sweet to me but I've seen recipes calling for up to 1/2 cup)
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup of dairy free bittersweet baking chocolate chips and a handful of walnuts (optional)

Preparation:

1. Line a baking dish or another similar container with parchment paper.
2. Mix all ingredients except for chocolate chips well (I just mixed them by hand, but you can do it in a blender.)
3. Transfer the mixture in a prepared container and smooth out the surface.
4. Freeze for a couple of hours.
5. Once the pumpkin mixture is frozen, melt chocolate chips (I just did it in the microwave.) Take the mixture out of the freezer and spread melted chocolate over it. Sprinkle with walnut pieces. Put back in the freezer for at least 30 min. You can skip this step entirely if you don't want the top chocolate layer.
6. Take the frozen mixture out of the freezer and cut it up into squares. Enjoy!

Keep in mind that this is not a low calorie dessert. It also is really rich and dense, so you probably won't eat too much of it at a time. However, all the calories in this dessert come from wholesome organic ingredients, healthy fats and vegetables. So I would much rather enjoy a piece of this pumpkin bar than a piece of cake made of white flour and refined sugar with the same amount of calories in it.

My little helper mixing the pumpkin batter

Coconut pumpkin and kale gnocchi recipe

Ingredients (3-4 servings, depending if served with some protein or on its own):

• 1 package of gluten-free gnocchi
• Pumpkin puree (for the full package of gnocchi you can use anywhere between 1/4 and 1 cup of pumpkin puree depending on how liquid you want your sauce to be - pumpkin puree will make it thicker)
• 1 bunch of kale, stems removed, shopped
• 1/2 can coconut milk
• 1/4 tsp of cardamon and 1/4 tsp of cumin, salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. Boil gnocchi according to package instructions.
2. In the meantime, remove stems and hard parts from kale and chop it.
3. In a big frying pan, heat 1/2 tbsp. of coconut oil on medium-low and add kale. Wilt it for just 1-2 minutes.
4. Add coconut milk and pumpkin puree and mix well. Next, add cardamon and cumin and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook on low for about 5 minutes until the sauce thickens.
5. Add cooked gnocchi to the coconut pumpkin kale sauce and simmer for another 2 minutes. You dinner is ready!

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I haven't yet used the last half of the pumpkin, but I am sure I'll find a lot of delicious uses for it, especially with Thanksgiving just around the corner.

I hope you also make a good use of your pumpkins. And if you haven't ever cooked with them, fall is a great season to try it. Pumpkins are not only delicious and add beautiful bright color to your meals, they also provide plenty of health benefits, from improving sleep and boosting vision to lowering blood pressure and improving heart health. So enjoy these orange miracles while they are in season!