Shoes, Ships, and Sealing Wax

Hey, you got beans in my brownies...

There's a nutrition and fitness column and chat in the Washington Post called the Lean Plate Club. I read it regularly and have picked up a hint or two, and a few good recipe ideas.

The chat the last couple of weeks has had a lot of people raving about a lower-fat, higher-fiber brownie made with black beans. At first, I though that sounded revolting, but I'm actually starting to see the logic in it. Plus, it sounds so easy...puree a can of black beans, mix it with the box of brownie mix, and bake. I do love recipes that don't require measuring.

I haven't tried it yet (I'm not a huge brownie fan), but I am intrigued.

Along the same lines, I recently heard about adding pureed blueberries to ground meat for healthier, juicier hamburgers.

It sounds better than trying to make apple pies out of Ritz crackers, anyway.