It’s easy to talk about the benefits of eating seasonal food, but putting it into practice can be more challenging than it seems. To help inspire fresh ideas for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, let’s focus on perhaps the healthiest local December ingredient — pumpkin.
Choose the brightest orange pumpkins if you enjoy a sweet, “carrot-like” flavor, or pale orange, elongated varieties if you prefer a more “vegetable-forward” taste. The delicate flavor of any variety allows for versatile dishes: creamy breakfasts, light salads, hearty vegetable mains, or even desserts.
Pumpkin is packed with vitamins A, B, C, PP, and E (which helps prevent wrinkles and aging when consumed regularly), fiber, and minerals such as calcium, iron, copper, fluoride, and zinc. It also contains rare vitamin T, which aids in digesting heavy foods, and pectin, which helps remove cholesterol, radioactive substances, toxic metals, radionuclides, and pesticides from the body.
The combination of carotene and vitamin E in pumpkin makes it a powerful immune booster, helping prevent colds and supporting retinal health. With all these benefits, it’s impossible not to cook with it!
- 2 kg pumpkin flesh
- 1 potato, peeled
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 40 g butter
- 2 garlic cloves
- a handful of fresh sage leaves
Place the pumpkin and peeled, chopped potato into a pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Add salt and cook for 12–15 minutes until softened. Drain the water and let the vegetables cool slightly.
In a skillet, melt the butter. Add the garlic and sage, cooking for 2–3 minutes until fragrant. Combine with the pumpkin and potato, then mash into a creamy purée.
Place the pumpkin and peeled, chopped potato into a pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Add salt and cook for 12–15 minutes until softened. Drain the water and let the vegetables cool slightly.
In a skillet, melt the butter. Add the garlic and sage, cooking for 2–3 minutes until fragrant. Combine with the pumpkin and potato, then mash into a creamy purée.
