By Rosie Moore

Once again it’s time for a yearly pumpkin recipe. Here it is:

 

Dinner in a Pumpkin

 

1 medium pumpkin

1 tbs. oil or butter

1 small onion, diced

1 c. sliced fresh (or canned) mushrooms

1-8oz. canned water chestnuts

Salt and pepper

1-1/2 lbs. ground beef

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/4 c. brown sugar

2 tbs. soy sauce

4 c. cooked brown or white rice

 

Preheat oven to 350 deg.

Line a baking sheet with foil

Thoroughly wash and dry the outside of the pumpkin.

Cut the top off the pumpkin and clean out the pulp and seeds. Place the pumpkin on the baking sheet. Save the top.

In a large skillet, sauté the onions and mushrooms in oil or butter. Add ground beef and cook until no longer pink. Drain the grease from the beef. Add salt, pepper and water chestnuts.

In a large bowl, mix soup, brown sugar, and soy sauce. Add ground beef mixture and cooked rice.

Empty bowl into the cleaned out pumpkin and replace top.

Bake for one hour on the lower rack of the oven, or on the rack where the pumpkin can be most centered in the oven. After one hour, remove the top and check the sides of the pumpkin for doneness. The outside of the pumpkin will turn a dark orange, and the inside of the pumpkin should be tender and easily scoop off the sides with a spoon. If the inside of the pumpkin is still not fully cooked, bake for an additional 10-15 minutes. The cooking time will vary with the size of the pumpkin. Using hot pads, place the pumpkin onto a serving plate. Remove the lid, and stir. Be sure to scoop off chunks of cooked pumpkin into the casserole as it is served. That’s the best part. Enjoy!

 

There are many health benefits to eating pumpkin. Just 1/2 cup provides 100% of the recommended daily intake of Vitamin A which aids vision. It’s also a resource of potassium. One cup has more than a banana. Pumpkin seeds are also good for you. They are packed with magnesium, protein, zinc, and copper. Toss them with butter and salt and roast them in the oven.

 

Thought for the day: One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.  –Virginia Woolf

 

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