I’ve a been a fan of brussels sprouts for about ten years now. We didn’t eat them in Ecuador growing up, so I tried them for the very first time on my first year of college during Thanksgiving in 2005. I didn’t know what to expect when I took my first bite, but I was definitely intrigued by their flavor and texture. They were very different from the cooked vegetables I was used to having at home, thing like carrots, onions, potatoes and broccoli. I took my first bite and I liked the flavor, but I was not in love with it. I think it took me that entire fall and winter to really get used to them and start craving them. Come Thanksgiving 2006, I was all about them brussels sprouts.

Now, I am a super fan of those little guys. Just a half a cup a day provides 50% of our daily needed amount of Vitamin C, about 12% of our daily needed amount of Folic acid, a great ton of fiber and a lots of antioxidants that can help us prevent cancer. Way to be, little brussels sprouts. My husband is still not a huge fan of them, but I like to think that the more I prepare them at home, the more he warms up to them. Give me five more years (we’ve been married five already) and I truly believe he’ll join me in my love for this delicious vegetable.

Brussels sprouts totally remind me of the holidays and of cozy winter days, where movies, blankets and comfort foods are the norm. When I prepare them, I love to combine them with starchy roots and other fun ingredients to make the dish colorful and lively. I also like to play around with textures, so I’ll add in a few nuts or seeds here and there to get a bit of a crunch with every bite. Everyone loves a little crunch.

This Oven Roasted Butternut Squash with Brussels Sprouts recipe is:

• Comforting
• Sweet
• Savory
• Crunchy
• Nutritious
• Colorful
• And incredibly satisfying

I’ve also discovered that this recipe makes for great leftovers…especially for breakfast. Just heat a cup or two in the stove and top it off with a fried egg. So yum. Hope you love this delicious recipe, and make sure you don’t skip on adding the nuts and the dried cherries…together they take this dish from good to great.

This is a side dish I brought to my friend’s house for Supper Club a few weeks back. I posted one or two pictures of that night on my Instagram account (pictures of the drinks that were served and of the main entree my friend made), but I never really got to share a picture of the side dishes I made. Well, here is one of them. I’ll post the other side dish recipe on the blog soon, so stay tuned.

Our Supper Club is one of my new favorite monthly events. One of our friends came up with the idea, and I think it’s genius. It’s sort of like a book club, but with food instead of books and for foodies instead of bookworms. We have a group of a total of five couples, and we meet once a month to share supper together. We take turns in hosting, and whoever hosts that month gets to prepare the main entree and the dessert; the one who is hosting next month’s Supper Club brings the drinks, and the remaining couples bring side dishes or appetizers to compliment the entree. This month I get to bring another side dish, and I am so stoked because the theme is Friendsgiving. It’s so fun. And our group can get pretty wild…just this past month, our host took out a bottle of Tito’s vodka after we were done with supper and had played a few card games, and we literally had a dance party in their kitchen. Yup. That’s right. And even their dogs joined in on the dancing fun.

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