PEANUT BUTTER PUMPKIN YELLOW CURRY PITA TACOS (Pumpkin Recipe Series No. 2)

Steemians! I have another PUMPKIN recipe for you today continuing with the series.  In case you missed it, you can see No. 1 HERE.  

And, IT"S FRIDAY!!  With most of us back to work, back to school or both, today has significant meaning.

All of these photos were taken with my Nikon D5300 and my favorite Lens, the Nikon AF-S FX NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G, verification photo below, that's meant to be funny by the way.  ALL CONTENT IS MINE AND ORIGINAL!  

Pumpkin is probably one of the most season specific ingredients there is. That’s got to be why we all love it so much, because pumpkin isn’t all that great by itself. Hey, I’m not knocking pumpkins, I totally love them. They’ve got it all when it comes to epic color, sweet or savory versatility in recipes, capability of being record-breaking sizes, looking great when carved into faces, and being vastly available in the Fall. But come on, would you just eat a bowl of plain ol’ pumpkin puree? No, they require a lot of flavoring up to be the yummy flavor we all think of when we hear the word. In fact, pumpkins popularity is kind of riding on the back of all the spices used to help it out. That doesn’t seem very fair, pumpkin is basically a diva veggie. 

Remember, here we call this variety, Zapallo which really is simply español for squash.   Today I'd like to introduce you to Paxton, my model pumpkin for this post, and probably a few others in this series.   I know my little Paxton looks like your everyday pumpy-kin but he’s actually a genuine South American cousin to the ones most of you are accustomed to.

For those of you who may be new to my blog or who missed my grumblings about not having pumpkins here, yeah, they don’t grow them in Chile. At least not in my area and as far as I know, not at all. They do have their zapallos though and they’re usually very green. That’s why Paxton is so special, he’s a nice shade of I-really-want-to-be-orange. I think he’s trying to be rebellious and mimic his North American cousins cause he thinks being a zapallo is so not cool. I feel ya Paxton. I was so was so excited when my mom brought him home for me, she’s the best! 

I think I just may have to try giving him a face eventually but I’ve never had success on carving zapallos. They are so much tougher skinned than a pumpkin and I’m a little bit attached to my currently un-scarred face so I’ve been kind of scared to try after my first (dangerous) attempt. I think since Paxton is small he might go easy on me though. We’ll see. 

So pita tacos, right!   I made a bazillion pitas the other night for Mexican tacos (So stinkin’ good you guys! Should I blog them sometime?) but I wanted to use the leftovers for something that I thought was more fun to share. These are amazing and you need to make them….and that’s all there is to say. Oh, and what are your thoughts on Paxton? Should I jack-o-lantern-ify him? 

RECIPE

 Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Yield: 5 - 6

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 medium zucchini, cubed
• 1 cup white button mushrooms, sliced
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 cup cooked garbanzo beans
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 2 large cooked chicken breasts, cubed
• salt and pepper to taste
• pomegranate arils and roasted peanuts for garnish (if desired)
• 5 - 6 large pita breads

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat and add garlic, onion, and zucchini. Cook, stirring often, for 7 to 8 minutes until zucchini is very soft. Add in mushrooms and cook for another minute then reduce heat to medium low and add chicken broth, pumpkin, and peanut butter to pan and stir until peanut butter is melted. Add garbanzos and spices and mix well then cover and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in chicken and allow it to warm for a minute or two, then season with salt and pepper to taste.
2. Serve curry wrapped in pitas with pom arils and peanuts on top, if desired.

 AND A HUGE MASSIVE SHOUT OUT TO @rigaronib for designing my logo!!!! 

 I did try for two of my previous posts the "Pay me 100% in Steem Power" button. I have mixed opinions, still trying to sort through it all. I am always open to feedback, and would love to know how you feel I could do better and please do not forget to follow me