Join us this week for Halloween recipes for an Orange-Pumpkin Flan, Individual Chicken Potpies in Pumpkins and a Crunchy Pumpkin Seed Salad.
Pumpkins have a long history of cultivation in North America and Central America. Pumpkin seeds were probably a staple of the diet of prehistoric Native Americans who grew this member of the squash family. Although it predated the arrival of colonists, the pumpkin became associated with settlers from Europe during the colonization of the Americas. Today, it's a Thanksgiving tradition to have pumpkin pie with roasted turkey. However, pumpkins shouldn't be relegated to traditional dessert offerings like pies, which is why I incorporated pumpkin into the salad, main course and dessert of this holiday-inspired meal.
Inspired by the theme of thanksgiving for the growing season and harvest, we've used all parts of the pumpkin in these dinner recipes: the flesh, the outer shell and the seeds. Canned pumpkin puree is the base for the orange-pumpkin flan recipe, a twist on pumpkin pie. For the individual chicken pot pies, use small sugar pumpkins for the serving containers. The sugar pumpkin has a sweet, firm flesh that won't become soggy when baked. Don't use large sugar pumpkins; small sizes work best to hold individual servings of a hearty chicken pot pie baked inside the pumpkins' interiors. Pumpkin seeds, known as pepitas in Mexican and Latin American cuisine, add crunch and flavor to a healthy salad of fresh lettuce and crispy green beans.
RECIPES
In this custard-based dessert, pumpkin pie (a popular Puritan dish that traces its origins to Colonial America) combines with flan, a traditional Spanish dessert.
INDIVIDUAL CHICKEN POTPIES IN PUMPKINS
A family-dinner favorite everyone enjoys during cool weather, chicken potpie is baked and served inside a hollowed-out pumpkin.
Full of vitamins A and C, pumpkin seeds are nutritious and make a great snack. Called pepitas in Mexican cooking, the seeds are great when toasted and added to a salad.
