How to make a daily sweet treat that's actually good for you
A brownie recipe with a very unusual key ingredient
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One of the best things you can do to improve your diet is incorporate more beans into it.
In today’s piece I share a ludicrously easy recipe for irresistibly chocolatey and flourless brownies that are actually good for you.
Because as well as beetroot, the key ingredient in these brownies are beans.
Yes, beans.
No, it doesn’t make the brownies taste of beans in the slightest.
Today’s column is part of You Can Do This, a series of practical and self-empowering how to guides that include a recipe for my breakfast for most of the year, the easiest and quickest way to grow basil, how to make kefir and more.
Ready to have your culinary mind blown? I hope you enjoy today’s piece.
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The best piece of food advice for a long and healthy life
Last year, for an episode of BBC Radio 4’s The Food Programme, I interviewed best-selling author Dan Buettner, the man behind the book The Blue Zones: Secrets for Living Longer and the associated Netflix series. The Blue Zones are five parts of the world where people tend to live much longer and healthier lives than those of us on the rest of the planet, many past their 100th birthday.
In the episode I find out about the culinary aspects of Dan’s research: what the people in The Blue Zones eat, what they don’t eat and some of the practices that exist around their meal times (the episode is called Recipes for Long Life — you can listen to it on BBC Sounds or search for it wherever you get your podcasts from).
A question I asked Dan towards the end of the interview was, if he could give one piece of achievable and attainable advice from his research about what’s eaten in The Blue Zones, what would it be?
His answer was, ‘learn how to make beans taste delicious.’
This is because Dan’s research found that beans and pulses — examples include fava beans, broad beans, black / turtle beans, lima / butter beans, cannellini beans, haricot / navy beans, soy beans, pinto beans, red kidney beans, borlotti beans, black eyed peas, mung beans, chickpeas, lentils, split peas etc. — are the cornerstone of most centenarian diets.
They are eaten by these people almost every day.
If you want to learn more about how beans are good for both people and planet, The Food Programme also has a two parter all about beans:
Presented by my colleague Sheila Dillon. And here’s an interview I did with the wonderful Sheila on A Day Well Spent.
This is all to say, beans are really good for you
The more beans in your diet, the better.
I adore beans and pulses. They are a staple in both Mauritian and Turkish cuisine (my heritage) and they make up the bulk of most of my main meals (you can read more about this in This is how – and what – I eat).
I have
largely to thank for this in recent times, as it’s her great books and Substack () that introduced me to the wonders of the pressure cooker, which is how I now cook all my dried pulses. Since I bought a pressure cooker, I cook legumes much more than I used to. It’s quick, easy and economical.But for the times when I haven’t planned ahead and want some cooked beans ready to go, there are few finer products than the excellent jarred pulses from Bold Bean Co. For inspiration on how to cook with them, check out the recipe section on their website. I’m also a big fan of Natalia Rudin’s Instagram account – it’s jars of Bold Beans Natalia uses in her recipes.
And if you’ve ever wondered why jarred pulses taste so much better than canned pulses (right?!), you’ll find out by listening to those two bean episodes above. Amelia Christie-Miller, the founder of Bold Bean Co. features in these episodes too.
Bold Bean Co. discount code
I asked the lovely guys at Bold Bean Co. if they’d be happy to provide a discount code for my members ahead of publishing this post.
They’ve been generous enough to say yes!
You’ll find a 20% off code to use on their website at the end of this post.
What makes this brownie recipe special?
There are two key and more unusual ingredients in this deliciously chocolatey brownie recipe that make them special and actually pretty good for you.
The first is beetroot, which adds a deep red colour, an intriguing depth of flavour and keeps the brownies wonderfully moist – chocolate and beetroot is a well worn and excellent combination.
And the second is, you guessed it – beans. Specifically black / turtle or red aduki beans, the latter being a common ingredient in Japanese desserts.
And no, the brownies do not end up tasting of beans in any way. The beans simply act as the bulk in place of flour in a traditional brownie recipe, but with a much higher fibre and protein content. I also top mine with a tahini swirl which is a total winner.
I’ve made these brownies a hundred times and a square accompanies my coffee most days. I make a batch every three weeks or so, slice it up into 16 pieces, freeze them and pop one in the microwave for 10 seconds prior to eating. So they get a little warm and fudgy again.
If you’re used to oozing, decadent, buttery, traditional brownies, these are not those. There’s a time and a place for those, but they’re not an everyday thing.
The brownie recipe I share below is more virtuous yet still does a brilliant job of hitting that sweet spot, whilst containing ingredients that are actually good for you. A small square of these can absolutely be a daily thing.
Sweet things don’t have to be loaded with added sugar and butter to taste good.
The Chocolate, Beetroot and Bean Brownie Recipe
These brownies are made with whole and minimally processed foods, are high in fibre and protein, taste great and are exceedingly easy to make.
You just whack it all in a food processor, pour the mix into a dish and bake.
A great bite to replace any ultra-processed sweet treats you might currently eat. And they contain 7 plants.
Here’s the recipe.