When you buy and cook a squash, don’t throw out the seeds. Sure, they’re sticky and kind of gross, but if you wash them, strain them and toss them with salt, pepper and oil, they bake up to cheap treat perfection.
Toasted Pumpkin Seeds
Seeds of 1 pumpkin or squash
1 tsp olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
Slice a pumpkin in half and scrape out the seeds and sticky squash strands. Rinse the seeds in a medium bowl of water and separate the seeds from the strands as best you can. This is the annoying part but if you do a good job, you’ll be happier later. Dry seeds in a clean kitchen towel. Toss seeds with salt, pepper and oil (you can add other spices like cumin, coriander, chili and garam masala if you want). Bake in a 350F oven for 10 minutes. Stir seeds and bake 5 minutes more or until crispy.
Besides being a snack on their own, these seeds are also great as a garnish for more elaborate dishes. And since they last a couple weeks in the fridge (as long as there aren’t any squash membranes/fibres attached that can go bad), you can seem all gourmet by tossing them in salads, on cereal, on rice dishes, on meat, on vegetables and even on this slow-cooker chicken curry.
Slow-Cooker Chicken Curry
6-8 chicken thighs
2 chicken breasts
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp salt
1 large yellow onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-inch piece ginger, minced
2 tbsp curry powder (homemade or highest quality store-bought available)
1 cup chicken broth
1 tbsp cornstarch, potato starch or arrowroot powder
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup chopped cilantro to garnish (I have dill in the photo because that’s what I had. It’s not traditional but it’s pungent)
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the chicken with salt. Add the chicken in batches to the hot skillet. Brown on each side for 1 minute. Remove to the slow-cooker stonewear. Add the next batch of chicken. Repeat until all chicken is browned.
Add the onion and garlic to the slow-cooker. Reduce the heat to medium. Cook, stirring, for 6 minutes or until onion is softened. Add the ginger and curry powder and stir for 30 seconds. Add the chicken broth.
Stir the cornstarch into the lemon juice and stir into skillet contents. Bring the skillet to a boil. Pour contents over chicken in slow-cooker stonewear. Cook on low for 8 hours.
Garnish with cilantro and serve with Basmati rice.
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