Tag Archives: Brown Sugar

Baked Acorn Squash

Posted by thehipvegetarian in Vegetables, Vegetarian and tagged with , ,

Baked Acorn Squash

As I’m sitting here in the coffee house talking about what my friend Kim is making for dinner, I was totally reminded about my Baked Acorn Squash recipe.

So Kim, this is for you.

Baked Acorn Squash

1 medium size Acorn Squash
2 tablespoons Butter
2 tablespoons Brown Sugar
Black Pepper

Set oven to 350 degrees.

Cut acorn squash in half, scoop out the seeds, and place in a baking dish with 1″ water.  Trim the stem slighly so the squash will sit flat during baking.

Bake upside down for about 1/2 hour, so the meat of the squash will quickly soften. You can speed up this process by placing the baking pan and squash in the microwave for 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and turn the squash right side up and place 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of brown sugar in each half.  Sprinkle with black pepper.

Bake for an additional 10-15 minutes until the squash is tender.

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Don’t Throw Those Seeds in to the Weeds!

Posted by thehipvegetarian in Tips and tagged with , ,

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I lower my head in shame thinking of all the pumpkin seeds I’ve thrown away over the years — never once thinking that I could turn them in to something delicious.

Thanks to my friend Valerie over at 29 Days of Pumpkin I am now saving those seeds.  I love her recipe Toasted Brown Sugar Pumpkin Seeds. When I made them the first time I ate the whole batch by myself.

Not a proud moment.

What I love most about this recipe is the addition of black pepper. The little charge of spice is a nice balance to the brown sugar’s sweetness.

Today I am working on cooking all my left over pumpkins, and have been collecting the seeds.  I’m just about ready to make my last batch of Toasted Brown Sugar Pumpkin Seeds for the season.

I think I’ll have to package them up to share with family so I don’t eat them all…by myself…again.

Toasted Brown Sugar Pumpkin Seeds

2 cups raw pumpkin seeds, unwashed
1/2 cup or 1 stick butter/margarine
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsps vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice or
can replace with cinnamon

Line 13 x 9 baking dish with aluminum foil and lightly spray with no-stick  cooking spray.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Set pan aside.

Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat and add brown sugar, vanilla, salt, pepper, and your choice of pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon. Stir for 1 minute, and remove from heat.

Add pumpkin seeds to mixture and stir until thoroughly coated. Spread out in thin layer in baking dish, and bake in oven at 325 degrees for 20-25 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Remove from oven and spread on wax paper to cool.