Vishnu and I got into a little debate this weekend.  It’s actually the same debate we’ve been having for a couple of years.  He believes that my taste buds are warped to prefer healthy foods no matter what the alternative.  As soon as I mention that something is healthy, he looks at me with a little smirk on his face.  He is 100% wrong!  I love all food as long as it’s delicious.  Solid nutrition stats are an added bonus.

The one thing I will give Vishnu credit for is being on board with trying my so called healthy kitchen creations.  Whether he agrees with my food philosophy or not, he’s always a willing guinea pig!  Like on Friday when I announced that I was making Zucchini Brownies.  All I heard was “cool.”

My friend Monica sent me this recipe (she gets my love for healthy + delicious food).  Her mom made these brownies and said they turned out really well.  I had no doubts because the chocolate zucchini muffins I occasionally make are amazing, so I figured brownies with zucchini would be equally as good.  And if nothing else, it was worth a shot!

A couple of notes to consider before making these…

One, while these brownies are super rich, I wouldn’t call them decadent (proof that my taste buds aren’t warped).  What they are is the perfect alternative to their bad boy counterpart.  Not that anything is wrong with the real stuff, except when you know that between you and your husband the pan of brownies will mysteriously disappear by the end of the weekend.  This still happened, but I don’t feel as bad about it.

And two, the original recipe called for grated zucchini.  instead, I used my food processor to create the smallest pieces possible.  I think my way made for a better texture.

Zucchini Brownies
Adapted from fastPaleo

1 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 cup finely chopped zucchini (food processor highly recommended)
1/3 cup organic honey
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 tablespoon instant coffee
1 cup dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl.  Pour into a greased baking pan.  Bake for 30 minutes.

For all the skeptics out there, you really can’t taste the zucchini.  I promise (hand on heart).  In fact, the finer your zucchini pieces, the more everything just melts together.  And talk about moist.  Between the water content of the zucchini and the chocolate chips, it’s like you’re eating brownie batter (get your spoon ready).  Delicious.

As a testament to how good these were, I would like to reiterate that there is not a single trace of brownie left in our apartment.  And I was not alone in making that happen.  As much as he hates to admit it, I think Vishnu’s slowly making his way over to the “healthy AND delicious” side.  MUAHAHAHAHA –>evil laugh!

Happy Monday!

What was the best thing, healthy or not, that you ate this weekend?