Healthy Brownies!

What's great about these delicious brownies is getting your chocolate craving satisfied without the risk of getting carried away and eating too many--thanks to the heft of all the black beans (and dates) they contain! Yep--black beans are the super stars in "Super Raspberry Protein Brownies" from Dr. Neal Barnard's newest book, Power Foods for the Brain.

1/4 teaspoon safflower oil
2 15-ounce cans low-sodium black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup pitted dates
1 cup all-fruit raspberry jam (strawberry works, too!)
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and grease 8 or 9-inch square pan with oil. Combine beans, dates, jam, and vanilla in food processor and process until smooth. Add flour, cocoa powder, and salt and process again. Scoop batter (it's thick!) into pan, smoothing top with spatula. Bake 30 minutes or until the top looks set. Remove from oven and cool completely, then cut into 16 squares. They'll keep, refrigerated in a covered container, up to 1 week.

Per brownie: 5 g protein, 1 g total fat, 8 g fiber

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Home-Grown Shiitake Mushrooms!

All edible mushrooms are right up there with dark leafy greens and berries for packing nutritional punch, and shiitakes are true champions! They have great flavor, texture, and antiviral and immunity-boosting properties. Make mushrooms a regular addition to your soups, stews, and stir-fries!

Here's a "log" of shiitake mushrooms we're growing from a kit:

Shiitakes freshly cut from the log. They are delicious! (If you want some recipes, lmk and I'll email you my two favorites.)

go here for my current class schedule