Everyone talks about gaining weight during the holiday season, but I have a hard time believing that a little over-indulgence on Thanksgiving, the winter holidays and New Years results in a national average of 7-10 pounds of extra weight. Rather, I think the issue is that people start indulging on Thanksgiving and then don’t stop until January 2nd. And yeah, a full month of eating like crap will pack on the pounds.

So this year, I say let’s try to get a jump-start on our New Years resolutions and eat as healthfully as possible for the month of December (save for a buttery Christmas goose here and some golden latkes there). This tuna salad is full of healthy fats, devoid of empty carbs and chock-full of flavor. I ate it in endive cups, but you could also wrap it in a whole grain tortilla, mound it over greens or just eat it straight out of the bowl.

As a child, one of my favorite parts of Halloween was roasting the seeds from my family’s jack-o’lantern (go figure—I was way less excited about dressing up and collecting candy from strangers). I would push up my sleeves and reach into the cavernous pumpkin with my little hands and then pull out fistfuls of the pumpkin’s “brains.” I’d rinse them under a strainer, spread them out on a cookie sheet and bake them until they became brown and crispy. I’d sprinkle them lightly with salt and eat them warm, right out off the pan.

These days, I rarely cook whole pumpkins, but I’ve found that the seeds in most winter squash can be prepared similarly. In fact, I tend to prefer smaller, more delicate squash like acorn squash for seed consumption, since the seeds’ shells are smaller, thinner and, in my opinion, quite edible themselves.

As for the actual squash here, this is a very simple preparation of a naturally delicious winter vegetable. Serve it warm with roasted meats (it doubles as a starch and a vegetable) or cold in a green salad with lots of olive oil.

I screw around with food a lot.

I add pumpkin to mac and cheese, honey to meatballs and broccoli to traditional Italian meat dishes, and I don’t feel guilty about it for a second. Flavors, in my book, are meant to be played with.

But there is one food I don’t like generally like messed with; a food so integral to my childhood and hence, adult comfort food regime, that I like to keep it exactly the way it has always been. That food is egg salad, and I like mine the way my mother made it, with eggs, mayonnaise, salt pepper and dried dill. Anything else seems superfluous and therefore less-comforting.

But today I am feeling adventurous…and also way too carbed-out from last week’s indulgences to eat anything starchy. So, I’m going just a little bit defiant on traditional egg salad. Not only am I messing around with the flavors, adding chives and fresh lemon juice and omitting the dill, I’m eating it in peppery endive cups…to great results.

I never rebelled much as a teenager, but check me and my renegade egg salad out now.

Last weekend I flew to Nashville to surprise my best friend Caitlin for her 30th birthday. We had one of those magical weekends with just the right balance of going out, staying in and simply enjoying sweet togetherness (mad props to her boyfriend Dale who kindly tolerated three straight days of Caitlin and me acting like we were in junior high). Anyway, I came back to San Francisco thinking about how lucky I am to have such a special friend in my life…and also about biscuits.

Biscuits all over Nashville are out of control, but I didn’t know I cared so much about them until I ate the ones at Loveless Cafe. Light and fluffy but insanely buttery on the inside with a crisp and even-more-buttery exterior. We spread them with fresh butter and jam (though they didn’t need either) and when we ran out, we hungrily requested more. I was uncomfortably full at the end of the meal, but it was worth it.

Admittedly, these are not as extraordinary as the ones at the Loveless, but they’re hot, fresh and buttery and they do the trick.

Looking for an appetizer or side dish that will make everyone think you’re a gourmet chef, while exerting as little effort as possible? Look no further. These only take a little bit of time to assemble and taste like a hybrid of a Japanese gyoza potsticker and a pumpkin ravioli. Easy and delicious—just make sure you have a big pan with a fitted lid.