Brownies for the Brave

Many of us think our taste preferences are set - that we like what we like, dislike what we dislike and have no control over it. However, this is only so if you make it so. If you are determined to keep your tastes static, they will be. But, if you keep an open mind, you'll find your taste preferences will change depending on what you eat.

Processed food has altered our tastes. Many foods have both salt and sugar in them. The reason for this is pretty devious. If you eat foods containing one flavor at a time (i.e., sweet, salty, bitter, pungent, etc.) you'll eat a certain amount and then feel sated (satisfied). However, combine tastes and this process gets overridden and you'll keep eating and eating and eating. Food processors know this and have added salt and sugar (the major flavors that Americans eat) to all sorts of food.

Don't believe me? Then go into your kitchen - right now - and start checking labels. Sugar in soup? Yup! Salt in breakfast cereal? Uh-huh. Keep going. You'll find both in just about everything.

Not only that - let's take a step back to what you already know - that processed food has more sodium and sugar than unprocessed foods have. What? You didn't know? Oh, sorry, I assumed you did. They do, and more than they used to. Did you know that McDonald's and Kellogg's both process food for sale in England with much less sodium than the food they sell in the U.S.? (The reason, if you're wondering, is there are laws in England limiting how much sodium can be in processed food - no such laws exist yet in the U.S.)

All this sodium and sugar gets your taste buds used to foods made with a lot of sodium and sugar. So foods with less or none added at all taste bland - at first. But if you cut down or cut out the amount of sodium and sugar you use, you'll get used to it. And then, something truly interesting happens: you start to taste the flavor of the foods themselves. And they start to taste good!

I stopped adding table salt to my cooking years ago. We've all gotten to the point where food made with added salt tastes....salty. Not good salty, just salty.

Harry, my much-written-about-in-this-blog son, was a huge, and I mean huge sugar-junkie for years. This spring he finally agreed to let me rework his diet. I took out all added sugar. I even took dried fruit out of his diet. An interesting thing happened: he started eating fruit, willingly. Yesterday, a few months after his diet change, on our way to his first day of college, as I was doing my nervous mother routine of telling him everything I thought he needed to know to survive the next ten months without me (as if there are no cell phones in this strange new world he moved to), I begged him to take a piece of fruit out of the dining hall with him after each meal (this is allowed and encouraged by the school so the students have a healthy snack option between meals). "I plan on it, Mom, " Harry told me. "I love fruit." "What?" I said, almost crashing the car in shock. "Yes," he said, "I love the taste of fruit." Removing the added sugar from his diet achieved what I'd long given up on - that Harry would ever actually enjoy eating a piece of fruit. Without the added sugars, Harry can now taste and enjoy the natural sweetness of fruit.

Why take added sugar out of your diet? Not only because it can lead to weight gain but also because it fills you up with empty calories -- so instead of eating nutritious food, you're eating....nothing that's going to keep you healthy and energized. Also, sugar consumption speeds the aging process of your cells and organs. You don't have to give up all added sugars to reap benefits and taste more subtle flavors; just cutting down will help.

So, if you're ready for a challenge, I offer this recipe by my at-home personal healthy chef in residence: my dear, delightful, darling, and uber-talented daughter, Kit Collins. To be quite honest, my first reaction was, "Huh, where's the sweetness?" But, then I found myself being drawn back for another bite, and another, and another. They're really chocolaty, and chocolate without all the sugar is an antioxidant-rich treat. I know Harry would have loved these. He's missing out - that's what he gets for leaving for college!

Brownies for the Brave

Minimally sweet, these cakey brownies have a dense toothsomeness and delicious dark-chocolate flavor. 

10 pitted dates

Dash of water

1 1/2 c spelt flour

1 c unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 Tbs ground flax seeds

1 egg

1/2 c coconut oil, more for the pan

1 c applesauce

3/4 c rice milk

In a food processor, whirl dates with water until they reach a malleable, paste-y consistency. Combine flour, cocoa powder, and flax seeds in a medium bowl. Mix in egg, coconut oil, applesauce, rice milk, and date paste. Dough should be thick; mix with hands if needed. Place in 8"x8" glass baking pan and bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let sit until cool to the touch; they won't crumble if you cut them before they're completely cooled. That's because they're delectably dense!  If you're not going to eat these up in a day (and I advice you don't!), store them in the fridge.