Autumn Salad With Pumpkin seeds ,Nuts,Fresh Fruits and Pita Chips

With pumpkins abundant in the season ,I'm having a jolly good time cooking and baking with it.The nutritious beneficial seeds bounteous in its core should never be ignored. Toast them and use in Breads, salads ,add in your bowl of oatmeal or cereals ,candy(I'll post that recipe soon) and or simply munch'em for snacks. The Autumn salad gets a sensational flavor from crunchy pumpkin seeds along fresh apples,oranges,toasty almonds and home made pita chips.

How to Toast Pumpkin seeds?
Separate all the strings from the seeds. Rinse in water until all clean. Simmer in boiling water with little bit of salt for 5-10 minutes. Preheat Oven to 375F. Drain all the water and lay the seeds on a baking sheet. Drizzle about a table spoon of Olive oil evenly and bake until toasty about 20 minutes.

Autumn Salad
Ingredients
4 leaves of Romaine lettuce
1 red skinned Apple
1 navel Orange
1/4 cup roasted Pumpkin seeds
handful of roasted Almonds or walnuts
For dressing
2 tablespoon apple juice concentrate
1 tablespoon Olive oil
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin(zeera)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup pita chips(same as in the recipe,just cut in smaller bite-size squares)[use rice cracker for gluten-free salad]

Method
In a small bowl whisk together the apple juice concentrate,lime juice,Olive oil,cumin and black pepper until blended
Wash , dry and cut the lettuce leaves.Peel the oranges and remove the white pith. Cut the oranges and apples in half lengthwise. Before serving ,drizzle the dressing over the salad. Top with roasted almonds,pita chips and pumpkin seeds.

Nutrition Facts and Health Benefits of Pumpkins Seeds Pumpkin seeds are good source of protein and minerals like zinc and magnesium. Lowering cholesterol ,protection against certain kinds of cancer and reducing inflammation in conditions like arthritis are few of many health benefits of these wondrous seeds.
Autum Salad with fresh autumn ingredients is my entry for Kalyn'sWeekend Herb Blogging.Hosted this week by Laurie Helen Constantino of Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska