3 Healthy Pumpkin Recipes for Halloween

Chances are you’ll be buying a pumpkin at some point this week, and that said pumpkin will be making its way onto your instagram account as you rekindle those dormant artistry skills. What your contacts don’t know, however, is that you got that amazing ‘Nightmare before Christmas’ design off someone else on instagram, and copied it razor sharp tooth for tooth. Don’t worry - we won’t tell anyone; but what to do with all that orangery flesh? Well, we’ll tell you what to do with it!

The pumpkin is an absolute power house of goodness, delivering a shocking amount of anti-oxidants in the form of beta-carotene – great for fighting heart disease, eliminating free radicals in the body, and bolstering your immune system (and just in time, too, before those pesky winter colds really start making the rounds!). This seasonal fruit also provides roughly 170% of your Vitamin A RDA per 100 grams, which can help you see in the dark - always handy come Halloween when the spirits walk! So, without further ado, here are some of our favourite healthy pumpkin recipes...

Roasted Pumpkin Chunks

If you’re a fan of roasted vegetables, but haven’t yet tried roasted pumpkin, you’ve been seriously missing out. Simply cut the flesh into two-inch chunks, drizzle with olive oil, add a few cloves of garlic and a little salt and pepper, and cook in the over for about 40 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius. Serve them with a roast, in a salad, or tossed up with a little linguine – either way, they’re dead good.

Pumpkin Mash

For all our fitness enthusiast readers, mash potato is practically the devil’s food, if not worse, in all its carbohydrate swamped stodginess. But luckily, for those hankering after that sinful pile of fluff, there is an answer – pumpkin mash! Cooked in the same manner, it’s just as scarily tasty, but won’t put your body through hell at the same time.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkins are one of the few fruits where the seeds are just as tasty as the flesh. Once removed, place them in a colander and run under cold water to remove the pith. Now boil one cup of seeds, to two cups of water, with a spoonful of salt, and allow it to simmer for ten minutes. Place in the over at 200 degrees Celsius, with a little olive oil, and perhaps some paprika, chilli powder or salt to taste, and cook for anything between 5-25 minutes until golden brown.

They’re a freakishly good source of iron and zinc, which helps the immune system, and were included in our top 7 protein sources for vegetarians!

If you know any other great pumpkin recipes to sink your teeth into, share them in the comment box below and we’ll be sure to try them out. And if you’re planning on dressing up on the night, but aren't quite feeling Dracula or Frankenstein, then check out the Be An Athlete Halloween ensemble from our premium sportswear range, in Midnight Black and Pumpkin Flesh (well, that’s what we’re calling it this week anyway!)...

Image Credits

Roasted Pumpkin - Tiny Banquet Committee, Flickr
Pumpkin Mash - Nicolas Suzor, Flickr
Pumpkin Seeds - Rebecca Sims, Flickr

LADIES COLOUR BLOCK VEST - BLACK/CORAL

LADIES RUNNING SHORTS - BLACK/CORAL

LADIES CROPPED LEGGINGS - BLACK/CORAL

*As with all exercise/fitness/health regimes always consult your physician first