image source: Epicurious

Don’t even consider throwing away the pile of pumpkin seeds that’s leftover after your wild Halloween pumpkin carving activities! Not only are pumpkins seeds, aka pepitas, tasty, but they’re also quite nutritious. Pumpkin seeds are a great source of manganese, magnesium, phosporus, iron, copper, and zinc, and they have anti-inflammatory properties and phytosterols that can help reduce cholesterol.

Okay, so you’ll have to deal with a little bit of a stringy mess, but you won’t mind all of that when you have a bowl full of tasty (and healthy) roasted pumpkin seeds in front of you.

Here’s a roundup of pumpkin seed recipes to get you started:

How to Roast Pumpkin Seeds
Pumpkin Seed Pesto
Pumpkin Seed Praline
Pumpkin Seed Brittle
Toasted Salted Pumpkin Seeds
Curried Pumpkin Seeds
Pumpkin Flan with Spiced Pumpkin Seeds
Toasted Pumpkin Seeds, Three Ways (Sweet & Spicy, Curried, and Black Tea & Butter)
Sweet and Spicy Pumpkin Seeds
Pumpkin Seed Candy

Tags: Halloween, jackolantern, pumpkin seeds, Recipes