Conserve the gourd

As it's the 31st of October, this will be my final post for the third annual Vegan Mofo: Vegan Month of Food. Today also happens to be Halloween, and I'm obviously not a sculptor.

Don't waste the pumpkin after you carve the Jack o'Lantern. Eat it! For me, maybe the best part of the pumpkin is the seeds.

Remove the stringy strands, and rinse the seeds under fresh water. Dry.


Toss them with olive oil, Kosher salt, a small grind of black pepper, and a 'scary' dash each of garlic and cayenne powder. At 325 °F, bake the seeds for 20 minutes or so until they only begin to brown. Remove and cool.

Scoop out the 'meat' from the inside of the pumpkin. Clean and cube.

Here's my recipe for, ahem, Pumpkin 'Ghoul'ash. Or try roasting the cubed gourd as you would small 'new' potatoes. Or bake a pumpkin pie.

Last step: pour the final Oktoberfest lager beer of the year. Winter brews are a-comin'.

Want more VeganMoFo? Check out these photos on Flickr.