By Kasia Fraser | Posted: November 19, 2018

By the time Fall begins to roll around every year, everybody gets particularly excited about the abundance of cute pumpkins that is seen in all the grocery store. There is such a wide variety of pumpkins and it is so much fun decorating your house with pumpkins.

However, there is absolutely nothing better than including pumpkin into all your favorite recipes of the season. The flavors are so warm and inviting, you simply cannot resist.

A quick and delicious easy vegan pumpkin soup with a touch of pesto recipe that is a total game changer. The aromatic basil, black pepper, ginger, pine nuts with almond milk bring the warm flavors completely over the top.

Ingredients:

Soup:
- 1/2 of pumpkin
- small ginger
- 1/4 cup of olive oil
- 1/2 cup of almond milk
- salt/pepper

Preparation:

Cook peeled and chopped pumpkin with salt and ginger in a small amount of water. Once soft blend using a hand blender or Vitamix. Add almond milk and black pepper.

Ingredients:

Pesto:
- a handful of fresh basil
- 1/2 cup of pine nuts
- small garlic (optional)
- 1/2 cup of olive oil
- salt

Preparation:

Mix all together in the Vitamix. Pour it over the pumpkin soup. Enjoy with micro greens.

You may also want to explore this Atypical Pumpkin Soup Recipe.

7 ways pumpkins can improve your health this season

(Source: http://blog.naturalhealthyconcepts.com/2013/10/06/the-power-of-pumpkin/)

1. Good Source of Vitamin A & Carotenoids

The vibrant orange color of pumpkins is a dead giveaway that they are packed with beta-carotene, which your body converts into Vitamin A.

Beta-carotene is known for it potential to support your immune system. Vitamin A is also an essential vitamin for maintaining vision health.  A cup of pumpkin has nearly 200% of the recommended daily value for Vitamin A.

2. Cholesterol & Heart Health

The most amazing part of the pumpkin may actually be the seeds, which have a lot of nutritious qualities. One of them is the potential to support healthy cholesterol levels – particularly the balance between good and bad cholesterol (LDL & HDL).

Pumpkin seeds, as well as other nuts and seeds, are rich in phytosterols, which are plant-based chemicals that could keep LDL levels in check. Healthy cholesterol levels mean a healthier heart – and that’s not the only way pumpkin seeds help your ticker.

They are also packed with magnesium, an important mineral, of which most Americans have a deficiency. Magnesium promotes healthy blood pressure and could help keep your health so serious problems are less likely – like a heart attack or stroke. A quarter-cup of pumpkin seeds contains about half the recommended daily amount of magnesium.

3. Lots of Fiber

Fresh pumpkins have about three grams of fiber per one-cup serving. Add to that the fact that it also contains only about 50 calories per serving, and this is an excellent vegetable to help you control hunger as well as weight gain.

Since canned pumpkin is more concentrated – it actually has even more fiber – as much as seven grams per serving as well as three grams of protein. There’s some more fiber in those pumpkin seeds too.

4. Good Source of Zinc

Pumpkin seeds are also a great way to get the mineral zinc. If you aren’t getting enough zinc in your diet, your body could be more susceptible to coming down with colds and the flu. That’s why zinc is viewed as an important mineral for immune system health.

Pumpkin seeds and pumpkin seed oil can also be beneficial to men’s health. They’ve been shown to support the prostate because of the high zinc content. There’s more than 2 mg in just one ounce of seeds. Zinc has even been shown to potentially reduce enlarged prostate or benign prostatic hyperplasia. Read the study for more information.

5. Skin Health & Protection

Healthy skin is yet another positive effect of the pumpkin. You’ll often find natural lotions that include pumpkin in the ingredients.

The carotenoids in pumpkin may help neutralize free radicals, which can cause stress and damage to your skin. Dermatologist and author Kenneth Beer told Health.com that because the pumpkin contains Vitamins A, C and E, it can also help cleanse the skin.

To top it all off, pumpkins have excellent hydrating properties to keep your skin from getting dried out.

6. Potassium for Refueling

We’ve always heard that the banana is nature’s energy bar because of all the potassium (or Vitamin K). But you may be surprised to learn that while one average-sized banana has about 420 mg of potassium, a cup of cooked pumpkin contains more than 560 mg.

Potassium can help restore electrolytes and maintain fluids in your body after a good workout. That ensures your muscles recover properly and helps you avoid cramping. Plus, a deficiency in potassium could also contribute to reducing hypertension/high blood pressure.

7. Boost Mood and Help You Sleep

Usually we talk about turkey when we think of tryptophan, which can make you feel sleepy. But turkey meat doesn’t actually have all that much of the amino acid. However, pumpkin seeds truly are a good source of tryptophan.

Your body uses tryptophan to help it produce the hormone serotonin. Of course, serotonin is known as the “happy hormone.” So eating pumpkin seeds could improve your mood.

You use serotonin to produce melatonin – also known as the “sleep hormone.” Melatonin is important for developing a healthy, normal sleep cycle. In an article about the benefits of pumpkin seeds, Dr. Joseph Mercola suggests eating a handful of pumpkin seeds a few hours before you plan to go to bed. It could be a natural way to help you fall asleep and stay asleep.

Recipe by Kasia Fraser, originally written for Hello Delicious. Edited by Sejal Shah