Halloween is a holiday favorite here at Odacité HQ. Between costumes, spooky decorations, sweet treats, and pumpkin EVERYTHING, what’s not to love? While the holiday is usually celebrated all month long, by the end of October you might be out of pumpkin inspired recipes or ready for healthier alternatives to the traditional fall season dishes.

In celebration of Halloween and the fall season, I am sharing healthy pumpkin recipes that are made with fresh fall ingredients so you can still feel festive while getting the essential nutrients to make you glow from the inside out.

Flavor aside, pumpkins are great to cook with because of their amazing health and skin benefits. Did you know pumpkins are a vegetable? That’s right.  When you eat pumpkin foods you are incorporating a delicious vegetable into your diet. Loaded with fiber, pumpkin will leave you full without any uncomfortable bloat, and it is a great source of carotenoid antioxidants which act as an anti-inflammatory. It also has high vitamin A and C contents that help the immune system and encourage collagen production for the skin. That means it will help you maintain a beautiful bright firm complexion! And that deep orange color we all love about pumpkins actually helps prevent premature aging due to the carotids.

These pumpkin dishes are a great healthy options that will make for delicious festive dishes. 

Flourless Pumpkin Oat Blender Pancakes {Gluten Free, Refined Sugar Free, Vegan} No better way to starting a chilly day than with warm pumpkin pancakes. A great "morning after" recipe where you can use any leftover pumpkin puree.    They only take five minutes to blend together and require minimal cleanup.    For full recipe visit: Ceara's Kitchen

Roasted Rosemary Pumpkin with Black Rice & Cashew Nuts Heart-healthy, warming and beautiful, this dinner dish is simple yet full of seasonal ingredients.    What makes this a great recipe is that you can make it a few different ways by just using different squashes each time.    For full recipe visit: Cooking Melangery.

Vegan Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:

+For the Crust

300g of walnuts

2 tbsp coconut oil

1 pinch of salt

1 tsp cinnamon

+For the Filling

750g of steamed/roasted pumpkin

1 tsp of vanilla extract

2 tsp cinnamon

1 pinch of salt

6 tbsp honey

200 ml of coconut milk

4 tbsp coconut oil

How-To:

1. To make 750g of cooked pumpkin you could either roast inch chunks in coconut oil at 200C for 30 minutes or until cooked through, or steam/boil inch chucks for 20 minutes until cooked through. Roasting creates a slightly more caramel texture, whereas steaming is quicker. Be sure to cut off the skin. Tip: you can also buy fresh canned pumpkin.

2. To make the pie, turn your oven to 160C (fan).

3. Then start making the crust by combining the nuts in a food processor for a minute. Pour the rest of the crust ingredients in and process until fully combined.

4. Press the crust mix into a coconut oil greased 20 cm pie dish and pop in the oven for about 15 minutes.

5. Take the cooked pumpkin and combine with the rest of the filling ingredients in food processor. Pour the mix into the pie crust and cook in the oven for 40 minutes. 

6. Lastly dust with cinnamon and top with vegan whipped cream and enjoy.