Spicy Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

In this recipe I used small seeds from Sugar Pumpkins.  Larger seeds from regular pumpkins would require longer baking times.  I will put those in parenthesis.

Ingredients

3 c raw pumpkin seeds (from 6 Sugar Pumpkins)
Olive Oil
1 rounded T of Kosher salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp Ancho Chile Powder

After removing flesh from the Sugar Pumpkins, separate the seeds and rinse thoroughly.
Preheat oven to 300*.  Line a cookie sheet with foil.  Spread out the pumpkin seeds in a single layer and bake for 20 (30) minutes; stirring halfway through, to dry them out.  Meanwhile, in a small bowl or ramekin, mix salt, garlic powder and chili powder together.
Increase oven temp to 350*.  When seeds are cool enough to handle, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with spice mixture.  Coat seeds completely using your hands.  Spread out in even layer and return to oven for 16 (24) minutes; stirring halfway through.  Pumpkin seeds should be crunchy.

Variations:
Cinnamon-Sugar: For a sweeter snack, replace olive oil with melted butter and replace the spice mixture with 1/2 T Kosher salt, 1 1/2 T granulated sugar, 1 tsp. cinnamon.
For spicy sweet, add 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper to the above mixture.
Maple Brown Sugar: Another variation would be to replace the butter with maple syrup and replace the spice mixture with 1/2 tsp Kosher salt, 3 T brown sugar and 1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper (optional).
Experiment.  Really, any combination of your favorite spices would work here.

Curried Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

I

I went to lunch with a friend today and we both ordered the Butternut Squash soup off the seasonal menu.  It was delicious.  My friend order a quart to go, and I told her whatever the restaurant charged I would charge $1 less - kidding of course.  It got me thinking about making some soup though.  Then my cousin messaged me and asked if I had a good Butternut Squash Soup recipe. Now I know it was a sign for me to make some.  So here it is.  The lighting in the photo makes it look more like Split Pea Soup, but in reality it's the richest butternut color and tastes even richer. This is a curried version, not quite as sweet as some of the others.  If you desire more sweetness, up the amount of brown sugar.

Ingredients:

1 medium Butternut Squash, peeled, seeded & cubed
1 large Vidalia onion
2 large carrots, peel and cut into chunks*
2 medium sweet apples, peel, cored and cut into chunks*
Vegetable oil
1 Tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
4 T butter
3 T brown sugar
1 T curry
1 tsp Garam Masala
1/3 C toasted pistachios
3 C chicken or vegetable broth
1 can coconut milk
2 T maple syrup
Salt & Pepper to taste
Garnish with bread, coconut & pistachios, if desired

*Try to make all the vegetable chunks the same size so that the roasting time is the same for all.

Preheat oven to 400*. Place peeled and cubed vegetables on rimmed baking sheet.  Drizzle w/oil, sprinkle with salt and cinnamon. Stir well until all vegetables are coated.  Bake 20 mins., stir and bake an additional 20 minutes or until all vegetables are fork tender.

In a large pot, melt butter, add brown sugar, curry, Garam Masala & toasted pistachios. Cook for 1 minute. In the bowl of a food processor add the roasted vegetables in 3 batches, along with the curried pistachios and the broth.  Process until desired consistency.

Add to the large pot and pour in the coconut milk and maple syrup. Add salt & pepper.  Serve with multi-grain bread.

Now curry along and make this - the outside temps are dropping over the next few days and this is just the thing to warm you up!