Salads are a celebration of seasonal produce.

Iceberg lettuce and grainy tomatoes with sugar laden dressing is not a salad. Potatoes laden with mayonnaise is not a salad.

When people tell me that holidays cause weight gain and dietary slips and all kinds of reasons to be upset, it makes me sad just like the myth that salads are boring makes me sad. The two myths are interrelated.

This Fall Bounty Salad is just one example of a Fall/Winter Holiday salad that is delicious, healthy, and seasonally appropriate. There are many more!

Fall Bounty Salad- Serves 4

Ingredients

2 cups of Brussel Sprouts

1 small or 1/2 large Butternut Squash

1 cup Pecans

3/4 c dried cranberries

2 tablespoons avocado oil or other high smoke point oil

2 Tablespoons maple syrup

Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Halve the butternut squash, scoop out the seeds, and peel the squash.

2. Chop prepared squash into one inch cubes.

3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

4. Chop off the bottoms of the Brussel Sprouts, then chop in half. Combine the Sprouts and the squash in a large bowl.

5. Mix the maple syrup and oil. Pour over the Brussel Sprouts and Butternut Squash, and mix well.

6. Line a large jelly roll pan with parchment paper. Pour Sprouts and butternut squash on the pan, and cook in the 400 degree oven until squash is fork tender and Brussels Sprouts are browned, 25-30 min.

7. While veggies are roasting, chop pecans, then sauté them in a warm pan for a few minutes until fragrant but not burned.

8. Combine all ingredients; can be served warm or prepared ahead of time and served room temp. Wait to add the pecans until the time the salad is served so that the crispy pecans don’t become soggy.