These are so good, they make me want to throw a cocktail party tonight, just so I can serve them. Smoky and sweet, with just a little kick, I dare you to eat just one. Oh, and also really, really easy to make.

Note: This recipe was adapted from this one from Food Renegade.

Earthy, sweet and reminiscent of potato chips. Serve these with a creamy, delicate spring onion dip.

Like their cousin, the sweet potato fry, these are a healthier baked version of a sinful fried potato product…but they’re also so much more.

These are crackers for your crab dip and a vehicle for your vegetable dip. They’re a sidecar for your sandwich and a buddy for your burger (Hi, I’m Gabi and I am addicted to alliteration…).

So serve these as a side dish, but also consider using them as an alternative to crackers or chips when entertaining. Serve them with salsa, creamy spinach dip or even make sweet potato canapes with a dollop of guacamole and a bite-size piece of carne asada.

Also, make sure to let these sit for at least 10 minutes after baking and before eating. As they cool, they will become sturdier and crisper, making them all the better for transporting other goodies to your mouth.

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.