Sea Salt & Vinegar Roasted Squash Seeds

In Phoenix, I froze all my food waste that could be composted and hauled it to some gracious friends who had both a compost pile and chickens. Since moving to Boston, no workable composting solution has presented itself and I've been regretfully tossing all my beautiful veggie peels and seedy innards.

Until we find a way to divert food waste again, I'm trying to be more mindful about reducing the amount of it that ends up in one of Boston's trash incinerators. This morning, poised to toss the innards of a gorgeous acorn squash, I realized one squash's worth of roasted seeds would make a lovely afternoon snack.

Whether you have the seeds from just one acorn or butternut or delicata or kabocha, or a whole slew of pumpkin seeds from Halloween prep, you can do the same. Let's use as much of our veggies as possible, people!

Sea Salt & Vinegar Roasted Squash Seeds

Preheat oven to 350. Rinse your seeds well, and then spread on the bottom of a glass baking pan or baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes, plain, to get them dried out. Once beginning to crisp, reduce the heat to 250. Pull out seeds and coat well with olive oil, sea salt, cracked black pepper and white wine vinegar. (Be generous with the vinegar if you want that puckery taste!) Let bake for another 30 minutes. Pull out and enjoy warm as a snack or on top of soup, like this roasted red pepper and potato or this chopped veggie soup with crema and seeds.  To save for later, let them cool completely and then store in a glass jar with an airtight lid, then use as a topper on a hearty salad like our warm quinoa and chickpeas mix.