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Recipe of the Month

Pumpkin Buckwheat Pancakes

Source: Healing Gourmet: Eat to Fight Cancer, 2006 by Simin Liu and Kathy McManus

Photo of Pumpkins

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup buckwheat flour
  • 2 Tbsp packed brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
  • Pinch of cloves
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 1/3 cup buttermilk
  • 2 large eggs or egg substitute
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup fresh cooked or canned solid pumpkin

Directions:

  1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt.
  2. In another bowl, whisk together buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla, then blend thoroughly.
  3. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix, stopping when everything is just combined. With a rubber spatula, gently fold in pumpkin.
  4. Spray skillet and spoon 1/4 batter onto skillet for each pancake. When the undersides of the pancakes are golden and the tops are lightly speckled with bubbles that pop and stay open, flip the pancake over with a spatula and cook until bottom is golden.

Yield

4 four-ounce servings

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Nutrition Tip

Pumpkins

Pumpkins aren't just for jack-o-lanterns, they're also a fantastic source of beta-carotene, which our bodies turn into vitamin A. Not only that, but they're rich in alpha-carotene, a cancer-fighting phytonutrient. Alpha-carontene produces the vibrant orange color pumpkins are so well known for, and as a member of the carotenoid family it helps prevent tumor growth.

To cook fresh pumpkin, pick the ones called "pie pumpkins" or "sweet pumpkins." These are smaller, sweeter, and less stringy than the typical jack-o-lantern pumpkins. If you're carving a pumpkin or using fresh pumpkin for cooking, don't throw out those seeds! Eating them not only boosts your diet with fiber, iron, magnesium, phosphorous, and zinc; but also adds beta-sitosterol, a phytonutrient that has also been shown to slow tumor growth, as well as lower cholesterol. To roast the seeds, wash and dry them, sprinkle with seasoning and a little olive oil, then bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

recipe nutrition label