It’s getting close to September and I’m getting a bit anxious. Not anxious about the weather changing. Not anxious about summer ending. Anxious about Pumpkin Spice. That damn pumpkin spice added to coffee, added to breakfast cereals, added to M&M’s. It’s not even that I hate pumpkin spice; it’s all the lovely warming fall flavors that give us comfort; cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, ginger. How could you hate that? It’s just the cynical marketing that gets me. Did the good Lord really intend us to eat Pumpkin Spiced Pringles?

So, I lay off Pumpkin Spice but revel in the pumpkin. And the seeds. More specifically the Pepita. Pepitas (which mean “little seeds of squash” in Spanish) don’t have a shell and are found in only select pumpkin varieties. So, technically, pepitas and pumpkin seeds are the same thing. Roast the Pepita Seeds and dust them with heat and lime and salt and these babies will give your ordinary cocktail nuts a run for their money.

So, here’s your recipe for this month. Pumpkin Seeds…Spiced. You can even put them out for cocktail hour along with an open can of Pringles. Original Flavor like the good Lord intended.

Chili Lime Pepitas

Pumpkin seeds make a great snack, with or without a cocktail. They’re extremely versatile (I’ve eaten them with yogurt at breakfast, snacked on them at lunch and candied them for a dessert topping) and they have the added bonus of being nutritious. Roasting them with chili powder and lime makes them a fantastic bar snack.

4 cups shelled raw Pumpkin Seeds
1 tablespoon Chili Powder
2 teaspoons Salt
Zest of 3 Limes
Juice of 2 Limes
1/4 cup Sunflower Oil

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Toss all the ingredients together in a large bowl until the seeds are well coated. Spread evenly onto a 12×18 cookie sheet and place in the oven for 20 – 25 minutes. Shake the pan once while baking so that the seeds around the edges don’t burn. The seeds will change in color from a green to a deep golden brown. Remove and let cool before serving.