I have been eating more seeds and nuts lately and they are expensive. When last week we had butternut squash, I was about to throw away the seeds and it felt like I was throwing away money. My mom like a lot of women in Zimbabwe always stores her seeds. For my mom it is usually for planting during the farming season. They do come in handy when people do not have any other food to eat. I have not done this, but some people when they do not have any vegetables or meat eat their sadza with peanuts or pumpkin seeds.
The peanuts and pumpkin seeds are dry roasted in a skillet or clay pot and salted. Now obviously this is very dry but desperate times call for desperate measures. My grandmother said that there was a time during a drought when people did not have enough food and resorted to having sadza with the traditional opaque beer. At first I was bothered by people feeding children alcohol, but my grandmother said it was either that or nothing. This is not something that happens regularly in Zimbabwe, I don’t want you thinking children in Zimbabwe are being fed beer.
I digress, but these are the seeds I kept from my butternut squash. The squash was one of the best I have had in long time.I washed the seeds under the tap and dried them in a paper towel.
I heated a skillet and dry roasted the seeds.
Once they start to brown I added the peanuts and continued roasting until they were browned. I added the salt solution and started to enjoy my snack.
Roasted Butternut Squash Seeds and Peanuts
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butternut squash seeds
- 1/2 cup peanuts
- salt
Instructions
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Wash and drain the squash seeds. In a small bowl mix 1/2 teaspoon of salt with about a teaspoon of water, stir until the salt is dissolved.
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Heat a dry skillet on medium high. Add the seeds. Stir them around every minute. When they start to brown, add the peanuts. Continue stirring until slightly browned. Remove from heat. Add the salt solution and coat the seeds and peanuts. If still wet return to stove to dry.
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Serve cold as a snack.
