Roasted Squash Seeds

Don’t Forget To Use These Hidden, Nutritious Gems!

This year before the last harvest was in, I was taken by surprise by a group of delicata squash lounging about on the edge of my small backyard garden. The trail of green tendrils last spring meandered away from seedlings I planted in early summer, followed by the bugle shaped bright-eyed yellow flowers hiding under exuberant leaves, giving way to the lilliputian squash that did what they knew how to do. In the long warm days of deep summer, they reached to 8 or 9 inches long and by the end of fall were now ready to be picked.

I did not grow up with this hearty squash beauty, rather ate the also-delicious acorn and butternut squash with the occasional pumpkin thrown in for variety.

But the delicata squash with is narrow body and playful green stripes, is my new favorite. When the sun shines on its taut skin, it seems to shout out I’M GOOD FOR YOU! PICK ME! PICK ME! It’s perfect for making one of my all-time favorite soups, squash soup or stuffed squash. In my mind, delicata offers a better volume balance between the shell and whatever stuffing contents you fill it with.

That said, what I’d like to focus on here are the seeds. They’re flavorful and nutritious, full of all kinds of nutrients like omega 3 fatty acids, protein, beta carotene and Vitamin C. Squash in general has been…