Pick A Peck Of Pumpkins

You’ll have a lot of desserts to choose from this holiday season—and you just know you’ll indulge. Which dessert will be worth cheating on your diet? Try pumpkin pie. Here’s the lowdown:

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 Members of the squash family, pumpkins are a fruit.
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 Pumpkins are rich in beta carotene and vitamin C; they also have some folate, a little calcium, some iron, and some fiber—all nutrients which may help beat disiease.
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 Pumpkin is low in calories—about 80 calories per cup.
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 Pumpkin pie usually has only about 225 calories per slice, which is pretty good, especially if you compare it to pecan pie, which has 500 calories per slice.
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 To further reduce the fat in pumpkin recipes, substitute evaporated milk and egg whites for cream and whole eggs. For even fewer calories, bake pumpkin custard, without the pie crust, in a pie plate.

Try this great recipe for pumpkin-nut loaf from the University of California at Berkeley Wellness Letter.