When I think about eating healthy, I hate to admit it, but I generally always think to myself, “Ugh tasteless, blah, dry food.” So I went on a mission again to find delicious tasty food that my family, and hopefully you, would want to cook over and over again.

In my nightly recipe searches (hey, I already admitted I am a recipe junky), I happened upon a couple of brownie recipes that sounded interesting and they are actually somewhat healthy!

I gathered all of the ingredients and started to prepare them one night for the family to try and when the kids realized that one recipe called for sweet potatoes and the other black beans, the “ewwws” and “oh grosses” echoed through my house.

I just giggled to myself and continued to make the brownies. Soon the smell of chocolate filled the house and all of the kids seemed eager to see how these “gross” brownies turned out.

Well, to my surprise, my kids loved both recipes, especially the sweet potato recipe because they said it had a bit of a pumpkin chocolate chip cookie taste. 

My personal favorite is the one with black beans; it has a rich chocolate flavor and it is gluten free.

Then I found a honey cilantro lime salmon recipe. I am not a big fan of salmon, but I thought it looked pretty good and my husband loves salmon. I cooked up the salmon, gave it a try and I loved it.

I have a child who is not a seafood fan, so I substituted chicken for the salmon and she said it was amazing.

The last recipe, tuna stuffed avocado, is a great lunch and I thought it was very fresh and delightful tasting. Enjoy!

Black Bean Brownies

1 15 ounce black beans, drained and rinsed

3 eggs

3 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Puree black beans in blender. Mix black beans, eggs, oil and vanilla. In a separate bowl mix cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix wet ingredients with the dry ingredients, then stir in chocolate chips.

Pour into a greased 8x8 pan and bake about 30-40 minutes, until center in no longer gooey and a toothpick or knife comes out clean. Allow to cool before cutting into 9 squares.

Calories: 146 

Fat: 6

Protein: 4

Carbs: 21g

Sweet Potato Brownies

2 large sweet potatoes

2 tablespoons melted coconut oil (or butter)

3/4 cup maple syrup

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 large eggs

1 cup flour

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips, plus extra to sprinkle on top

Place sweet potatoes in the microwave and cook for 7-8 minutes or until completely softened. Once cool enough to handle, scoop out 2 cups of flesh into a large mixing bowl, discard the skins. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat sweet potatoes until mashed and fairly smooth. Beat in coconut oil until combined, then beat in the maple syrup, and vanilla. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, stopping to scrape down the bowl as needed.

In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry ingredients and mix gently, just until combined. Fold in chocolate chips.

Scrape batter into a cooking sprayed 8x8 inch pan, smooth top and sprinkle with extra semi sweet chocolate chips. Bake for 30-35 minutes, just until toothpick comes out clean. Place pan onto a wire rack and cool completely and cut into 9 squares. Best stored in the refrigerator.

Calories:134

Fat: 4

Protein: 3

Carbs: 24g

Honey Cilantro Lime Salmon

1 large salmon filet

salt and pepper, to taste

1/2 cup butter, melted 

2 limes juiced and 2 limes for slicing

4 tablespoons honey

3 teaspoons minced garlic

1/3 cup cilantro, roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line and grease a large baking sheet with foil. Lay salmon filet on foil and season with salt and pepper on both sides to taste. Slip lime slices underneath the salmon.

Stir together butter, lime juice, honey, and garlic. Pour mixture over the salmon. Fold sides of foil up over the salmon.

Bake for 15-20 minutes. Switch oven to broil and cook another 5 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro over the top and serve.

For a lighter version, you can cut back the butter to 4 tablespoons or use 1/4 cup olive oil.

Calories: 264 

Fat: 17.5g

Protein: 19.5

Carbs: 17.5g

Healthy Tuna Stuffed Avocado

1 avocado, halved and pitted

1 (4.5 ounce) can tuna, drained

1/4 cup red bell pepper

1 jalapeno, seeded and minced

1/4 cup cilantro leaves, roughly chopped

2-3 tablespoon lime juice

1/4 cup red onion, chopped

1 tomato, diced

salt and pepper to taste

Scoop out the avocado from the skin, set skins aside. Place the avocado into a medium-sized mixing bowl. Mash it with a fork.

Add the tuna, bell pepper, jalapeno, cilantro, red onion, and tomato. Pour lime juice over and stir until well mixed. Scoop tuna mixture into the avocado skins. Salt and pepper to taste.

Calories: 113.5 

Fat: 6g

Protein: 15.3g 

Carbs: 10.7g