Roasted Butternut Squash Seeds

A big part about having a food blog is the photography, and I have to say, the photos in this post depress me.  First of all, you might notice that the food is actually on a not un-photogenic (double negative, hello, how are you?) wood table.  Much nicer than our granite counter tops that look good from afar but terrible up close.

Secondly, I was able to take these pictures during the day, so they use natural light.  Considering the sun sets before 5:00 PM these days, the natural light option is only a possibility on weekends for me.  No one will deny that food looks best in natural light.  It, shockingly, looks like something you'd actually want to eat.

And speaking of depressing pictures, it's not just the fact that my pup in in a cage in this picture (it's a cage people, I'm not going to pretend it's a "crate"), but that look.  She is no fool and knows that her textbook puppy dog eyes will get her far in life.  She breaks them out when you least expect them.

Enough about the photos, though.  I use about a butternut squash a month these days.  Every time I scrape-scrape-scrape away ever last seed from the core I think "Hmm I should actually get around to roasting these one day."  Well, I finally did this weekend while John was coddling Harper in the bathroom after a traumatic one-two punch of a nail clipping and bath.  I roasted the butternut squash I was going to use later in the week for Curried Butternut Squash Soup, and figured it was time I finally got on the seed-roasting bandwagon.

While it's way past Halloween or Thanksgiving, butternut squashes are still very much in season and the next time you use one, be sure to rinse off the clingy goop (which takes less effort than I would have imagined), give the seeds a nice salt hot tub brine, and roast them for a few minutes in a hot oven.  Be sure to let them cool before eating, but I ate mine as soon as they lost their warmth and still had plenty of olive oil on top.  This allowed the salt I sprinkled on top to cling more readily anyway.  I was hoping I would be able to eat these seeds in multiple sittings, but I can just about assure you, this will be impossible.  Freshly-roasted squash seeds are a gift from God and you will not be able to stop until you're licking the salt off your fingers.

Roasted Squash/Pumpkin Seeds
Adapted from Simply Recipes

One medium-sized butternut squash or pumpkin
Kosher salt
Olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees (place a rack at the top of the oven).  Cut squash from root to tip and use a large metal spoon to scrape and scoop the seeds from within.  Separate the seeds from the strings and rinse the seeds well in a colander.  Add seeds, water (about 2 cups per half cup of seeds), and salt (1 tablespoon per cup of water) to a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Boil for ten minutes and drain.  Dry off seeds and place them on a single layer on a roasting pan coated with a small amount of olive oil.  Roast on the top rack until seeds begin to brown, 10-20 minutes.  Allow the seeds to cool before eating whole.  Sprinkle with additional salt if desired.