Fresh or canned, pie or muffin, soup or stew: it doesn't matter how you serve it, pumpkin is comfort food. Pumpkin is inexpensive and delicious. It's low in calories, fat and sodium and provides an excellent source of vitamin A, potassium, and fiber; it can even be substituted for various other winter squashes such as butternut and acorn. Pumpkin belongs to the gourd family, known as Cucurbitacae, which includes squashes, melons, gherkins and cucumbers. Native Americans served pumpkins long before the pilgrims landed using every last bit by drying the shells in strips and weaving them into mats. Pumpkins have been used medicinally for a variety of ailments, including as a remedy for snakebites, being recommended as a cure for freckles, and it's said the seeds help men avoid prostate cancer. Eighty percent of our pumpkin supply here in the United States is available in October, which might account for the fact that we include the pumpkin in our Halloween festivities and Thanksgiving feasts. So when you're planning your holiday spread, make sure you include a pumpkin offering and follow these helpful tips:
1. The smaller the pumpkin, the better it tastes.
2. The best flavor comes from pumpkins that have no blemishes and are slightly heavy for their size.
3. Also look at the stems: a one to two inch stem is best (shape isn't important). One pound of raw pumpkin yields one cup of pumpkin puree.

Pecan Pumpkin Soup
Recipes from the kitchen of the Blue Mountain Café, located in Hendersonville Community Co-op
Number of servings: 4-6
1 cup pecan halves
1 small pumpkin (2 1/2 cups)
1 Tbsp safflower oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cups vegetable stock
1/2 cup tofu
1/2 cup soymilk
2 Tbsps apple juice
Nutmeg to taste
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place pecans on baking sheet and toast in oven for 8-10 minutes stirring 2 or 3 times. Remove from oven and let cool. Peel and seed the pumpkin and cut into 1 inch cubes. Heat the oil in large saucepan adding the onion and pumpkin cover and cook for 5 minutes, stirring as needed. Add the stock, cover and cook additional 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Meanwhile, grind the pecans in food processor or blender. Slowly begin to add tofu, soymilk and apple juice and blend until smooth. Transfer to a small bowl. Let the pumpkin mixture cool slightly and puree. Slowly stir in pecan mixture. Season to taste with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Makes 12 muffins
2 cups almonds blanched
2/3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp Pumpkin Spice (1 tsp. cinnamon, 1 tsp. nutmeg, 1 tsp. ginger & allspice)
1 tsp baking soda & baking powder
2 eggs
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup pumpkin
1/2 cup melted butter

Mix dry ingredients together, set aside. Mix wet ingredients together and fold dry over wet. Blend together just until mixed and drop into muffin cups. Fill cups almost to the top. Bake in a 350 oven for 20-25 minutes.

Sources: http://www.umkc.edu/imc/pumpkin.htm www.pumpkin-patch.com

Kelli Reese is the marketing coordinator at the Hendersonville Community Co-op. She owned a vegetarian restaurant in New York City for three years, before moving to Western North Carolina, where she is a certified yoga instructor. She can be reached at kelli@hendersonville.coop

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