Packed with vitamin A, pumpkins are good for more than carving, and it’s time to expand your palate beyond pumpkin pie. They’re absolutely delicious in any of these 8 healthy recipes.

Nutrition Lowdown
Both fresh and canned pumpkins are packed with nutritional goodness. Oftentimes, recipes will use the canned pumpkin since it takes a little work to use fresh. If you choose canned pumpkin, make sure to purchase 100% pureed pumpkin, not pie filling (check the ingredient list).

One cup of canned pumpkin has 83 calories, 1 gram of fat and 7 grams of fiber. It also has close to 800% of your daily recommended amount of vitamin A, 49% of the daily recommended amount of vitamin K and 19% of your daily recommended amount of iron. It also has a good amount of vitamins E and C, pantothenic acid, magnesium, potassium, copper and manganese.

Creamy Risotto
This recipe uses a combo of diced and pureed pumpkin. Combined with mascarpone and fresh Parmesan cheese, it’s heavenly.

Recipe: Creamy Baked Pumpkin Risotto (above)

Spiked Punch
Pureed pumpkin mixed with brown sugar, cinnamon and a splash of rum (for the adults) will help warm you up on a chilly night.

Recipe: Mexican Pumpkin Punch

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In the fall, I utilize fresh and canned pumpkin as much as physically and culinarily possible. I adore filling my house with this gourd’s sweet and nutty aroma and autumn in my house wouldn’t be the same without it. That said, I’m curious why chefs don’t combine pumpkin and chocolate more often. I got creative recently and made pumpkin muffins laced with semi-sweet chocolate morsels. Before you try them, I must warn you: They’re wonderfully unique and incredibly addictive. In fact, my family devoured all 36 mini muffins MUCH sooner than I anticipated, leaving everyone hankering for more. Once the muffin pan was empty, my son Kyle looked at me with his big green eyes and asked, “Mom, can you make these before you go to bed tonight so I have something to look forward to in the morning?” Who can say no to that?

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