Cooking with Pumpkin Leaves
Pumpkin leaves, which grow along with pumpkins, are large and dark green in color. These plants are not only edible, but they promote weight loss and are high in vitamins and minerals. In fact, one cup of raw pumpkin leaves contains only seven calories; this serving size contains 15 percent of your daily recommended intake of vitamin A, and has 15.2 mg of calcium, 40.6 mg of phosphorus, and 170 mg of potassium. This plant is very low in Cholesterol, and is good source of protein, thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin B6, niacin, folate, magnesium, iron, copper, and manganese.
If you find yourself surrounded by pumpkin leaves, you can incorporate them into meals. You can try this recipe for pumpkin leaves in a peanut butter sauce:
Ingredients
1/2 pound of young, soft pumpkin leaves
2 Tablespoons of smooth peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon of curry powder or other seasoning
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of Water
1 medium-sized tomato, sliced
1 small onion, finely chopped
Preparation
Wash the pumpkin leaves under cold water and let them drip dry. Remove the leaves' threads by breaking off a piece of the stem and pulling the strips down the leaf. Slice the leaves thinly. Place pumpkin leaves and onion into a seasoned cast iron saucepan on medium heat. Cover the pan and do not open it until the leaves begin to steam, or about five minutes. Add a little bit of water, if necessary.
Simmer the leaves and onion for about ten minutes, or until the leaves are tender. Add the tomato, and leave it for another five minutes. Add the peanut butter and stir it all together until the peanut butter is dissolved and mixed with the vegetables. Add seasonings and simmer for another five minutes. Ensure that the product does not burn.
Serve this dish hot on freshly boiled pasta.
