{stories and snapshots from my new york city life.}

10.02.2011

Toasted Pumpkin Seed Salad with Avocado and Parmesan

It's October, so suddenly all anybody can talk about is pumpkins. Pumpkin bread, pumpkin soup, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin lattes, pumpkin kebabs, pumpkin pot pie, pumpkin stroganoff...it's pumpkin mania!

So I made this salad with a big bunch of pumpkin seeds, but truthfully, I haven't gotten around to cracking open an actual pumpkin or a big orange can of Libby's just yet. That's right. I made life simple and ripped open a bag of pumpkin seeds rather than tear a bicep sawing into a big hard vegetable (or is it a fruit?) to scoop those little suckers out. Stick with me kids; I'm full of good ideas.


This recipe has been adapted from one of my favorite cookbooks, Stop and Smell the Rosemary, and this salad has become one of my favorite lunches. A big bowl of greens is drizzled with a bright lemon vinaigrette then topped with an assortment of toasted nuts and seeds, crunchy slivered carrots, creamy avocado and salty parmesan. It is dee-licious. Here's the recipe, my precious little pumpkins.

Toasted Seed Salad with Avocado, Parmesan and 
Lemon Vinaigrette

Salad: 1 head of lettuce (Boston, romaine, red leaf)

Dressing: 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice, 1/8 tsp dry mustard, 1/4 tsp salt, 2-3 cloves minced garlic, dash of cayenne or Tabasco, 1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil (Combine first 5 ingredients, then whisk in oil)

Top with: 1/2 cup grated carrot, 1/4 cup grated Parmesan or Pecorino, 1 diced avocado
pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, chia seeds, slivered almonds and sunflower seeds (2 tbsp each, toasted)

7 comments:

  1. What a great salad, I love the combination of flavours and the crunch from the pumpkin seeds!

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  2. Hmmmm, yummy! Might have to try this!

    Hope all is well with you girl!
    x.o.x.o

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  3. Wonderful salad. I haven't used any pumpkin seed for anything yet.

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  4. i seriously need to know more about pumpkin kebabs and pumpkin pot pie!! i hope you weren't making those things up!!

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  5. I went overboard with the pumpkin this weekend and made a bunch of pumpkin whoopie pies - nom!

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  6. Ooh the salad looks lovely. Here in the UK, pumpkin isn't a big thing at all, but after seeing all the photos of recipes on blogs, I'm going to have to try a few pumpkin recipes I think! :)

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