Next time you’re cutting up a pumpkin, save the seeds and give them a good wash. These roast up nice and crunchy and are a great source of zinc and protein. Add some chickpeas to make it go further – another wonderful source of zinc and protein.

You can add whatever flavours you like – I like a mix of spices, but you could also do a salt and vinegar blend, a simple dried herb mix or a bit of soy sauce.

Roast Pumpkin seeds with Crispy Chickpeas

Ingredients

• Reserved seeds from a pumpkin, washed.
• 1 x 400g can chickpeas
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp spices (I don’t measure them, but give a few shakes of whatever I feel like on the day. My favourite combination is garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika and cumin).
• ½ tsp salt, or to taste

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C
2. Drain and rinse the chickpeas
3. Add the pumpkin seeds to a small bowl with the rinsed chickpeas.
4. Drizzle over the olive oil and add the spices to your taste. Add a good pinch of salt if desired, and stir through
5. Spread the chickpeas and seeds onto a tray lined with baking paper and transfer to the oven
6. You may need to stir the chickpeas and seeds once depending on your oven
7. When they are crispy and golden, approx. 20-30 minutes, take them out of the oven and allow to cool slightly.
8. They are delicious warm but can be kept in an airtight jar for a couple of days.

The post Roast Pumpkin seeds with Crispy Chickpeas appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

Ingredients

• 1 eggplant
• 3 tablespoons tahini (sesame-seed paste, preferably unhulled)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon chilli powder
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Smoke paprika

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200C.

2. Roast eggplant (whole) in oven for 30 minutes or until tender.

3. Let eggplant cool, then peel the skin and put it into a food processer.

4.  Add remaining ingredients, withholding oil and paprika.

5.  Blend until you get a consistency that you like, drizzling in a little oil to make it a bit creamier if you want.

6.  Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of paprika.  Pretty and yum!

Tips

Make sure you check the flavouring of this before you finish, because the size of the eggplant can affect the ratios. 

The addition of the eggplant helps to give this a bit more fibre.

You can add more cumin and lemon if you wish!

Serve with a variety of vegies to dip into it.  2-3 tbsp of this dip with some vegies (such as carrot sticks, celery, capsium, cucumber, asparagus spears) is a great snack that’s rich in protein and fibre.
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