Sweet Cinnamon Pepitas

Appleberry Crumble

Serves 6

4 ounces The Fertile Hand’s
Sweet Cinnamon Pepitas,
broken into small chunks
3 Granny Smith apples, peeled,
cored and cut into thin wedges,
about 20 per apple
Juice of 1 orange
10 ounces frozen raspberries
(or 1 pint fresh)
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Arrange the
apple slices in a buttered shallow baking dish and sprinkle with 1/2 the orange juice. Sprinkle the raspberries over the apples.
Mix the flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt in
a bowl, then cut in butter with your fingers until the mixture is crumbly. Add The Fertile Hand’s Sweet Cinnamon Pepitas, and mix well. Cover the fruit with this mixture. Drizzle on the remaining juice from 1/2 orange.
Bake for 50 minutes, or until top is lightly browned and bubbling. Serve warm with
a dollop of vanilla ice cream.

Dark Chocolate Pepitas

Black-Capped Coconut Clouds

Yields about 36

4 egg whites, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Pinch of salt
2/3 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
3 ounces unsweetened shredded coconut
3 ounces The Fertile Hand’s
Dark Chocolate Pepitas,
broken into small chunks

Preheat the oven to 300°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Beat egg whites with lemon juice and salt until soft peaks form. Add sugar by the tablespoon, then the extracts, beating until shiny and very stiff. Fold in the coconut. Drop by a generous tablespoon onto the baking sheets. Top each center with about a teaspoon of the Dark Chocolate Pepitas, pressing them gently in place. Bake for one hour, or until pale brown and dry. Cool completely on the baking sheets before serving. These can be stored for up to a week in a tightly sealed container.

Barely Salted Pepitas

Mexican Pepita Sauce

Yields 1 cup

4 ounces The Fertile Hand’s
Barely Salted Pepitas
1 cup chicken or vegetable broth 2 tablespoons onion,
coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 to 3 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
(epazote was traditionally used)
Pepper to taste

Grind the Barely Salted Pepitas to a fine powder in a blender or food processor. In a saucepan, combine remaining ingredients and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, 10 minutes. Strain out vegetables, reserving the liquid. With blender on, slowly add the hot strained broth to ground seeds, until creamy. Adjust seasonings. Serve over rice, or with burritos, chicken, or any white fish. Garnish with a sprig of fresh cilantro. This sauce is also delicious as a dip for raw vegetables.

Extra Hot Pepitas!

Holy Guacamole!

Serves 4 to 6

2 ripe avocados
1 to 2 tablespoons The Fertile Hand’s Spicy Garlic Pepitas, crushed
Juice of 1/2 fresh lime
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro,
finely chopped
2 tablespoons tomato salsa
1 tablespoon onion or scallions,
finely chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled and pushed
through a garlic press
1 to 2 tablespoons sour cream
Salt and pepper to taste

Cut avocados in half. Remove large pits and scoop flesh into a bowl. Mash flesh with a fork until no large lumps remain. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Adjust seasonings. Serve immediately with fresh cilantro and whole Extra Hot Pepitas as a garnish on top. Surround with blue corn chips or lime-flavored taco chips and plenty of beer and margaritas.

Spicy Garlic Pepitas

Tilapia Sabroso

Serves 4

2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup milk
4 ounces The Fertile Hand’s Spicy Garlic Pepitas, coarsely ground in food processor or blender
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tilapia fillets 6 oz, rinsed and patted dry
Olive oil

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Mix eggs and milk in a bowl. In a separate shallow dish, mix the salt and the ground Spicy Garlic Pepitas together. Dip tilapia first into the egg-milk mixture to coat, then into the ground Spicy Garlic Pepitas and salt, covering all tilapia surfaces evenly. Oil a shallow oven-proof baking dish, add tilapia in a single layer and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove and serve immediately with a mesclun greens salad, and black or refried beans.

Ancient Aztec Emperor’s recipe

(Used before visiting his many wives)

Grind and dissolve in water--

Pepitas, vanilla beans, cacao, cinnamon, cayenne and other peppers, to taste. Add salt or honey, as desired. Serve in a gold cup.

(The resulting beverage was originally known as xocolatl /chocolate. Plants of Love, C. Ratsch, Ten Speed Press, 1997.)

But if time is short, just eat our Pepitas straight from the bag.

Other recipe suggestions:

Sprinkle Sweet or Chocolate Pepitas on top of breakfast cereal, yogurt or ice cream. Create your own trail mix with raisins or other dried fruit. Make nutritious cookies by adding the Sweet or Chocolate Pepitas to the cookie batter. Grind and Pepitas add to dough for a deliciously different savory or sweet pie crust or bread. Stir Spicy Pepitas into salsa, sprinkle on soup or serve as a zesty alternative to salad croutons. Blend Spicy Pepitas with prepared brown or wild rice, stuff into peppers or squash and bake. The Sweet or Spicy Pepitas add a novel ingredient to stuffings, not just for the holidays.