“You should have seen them!  They were lumpy and weird and nasty.”  This is how a friend recently described some “healthy” brownies she’d been offered to taste.  NOT my brownies mind you. I told her I only put recipes on my website that my kids approve.  But most of us have probably used words worse than lumpy or nasty to describe something that is supposed to be “healthy”.  You should hear my kids’ description of my Bulgar Tacos (recipe definitely not on website). So, my advice, don’t use the word healthy.  Because in our society, Healthy=Bad Taste.

It shouldn’t be that way.  We should want foods that make our cells function well.  Foods that give us energy and vitality.  But no, we’ve been conditioned to like sugar and fat and cream and artificial flavors and bacon.  Oh yeah, bacon is a rock star.  Bacon has over a half a million fans on Facebook. Zucchini only has 276 fans.  Somehow we need to change our perspective on food.  Healthy is not the enemy.  Health is the goal. 

 So how do you sell a food on its health benefits without using the word “healthy”?  What is going to get your family to actually eat it?  Taste.  We need foods that promote health and taste incredible.  And since I don’t have a spray can of artificial bacon flavoring, nor do I think chemical flavors are the way to go, I try to keep within the flavor profiles my family likes.  A lot of my vegetable dishes are seasoned with Italian herbs and breath-sabotaging amounts of garlic.  Mmm…tastes like pizza.  It takes effort to find recipes that work. And sometimes it’s best to realize what you think is delish, tastes like dirty socks to your kids.  My family now does a ten point safety inspection on every taco I serve.  Yes, I’ve scarred them.  But I have found equally appealing dishes.  When my daughter licked the bowl from the recipe below, maybe the horrors of the taco tasting were erased.  

 This tastes great on grilled bruschetta or tossed with whole wheat pasta. 

Full of Flavor Tomato Bruschetta 

2 lbs. tomatoes, chopped into 1 inch pieces or use cherry tomatoes

1 cup shredded zucchini

¼ cup olive oil

½ tsp. coarse ground sea salt

3 cloves garlic chopped

 Heat oven to 425.  Combine all ingredients on a baking sheet.  Toss to coat tomatoes and zucchini with oil.  Put tray in oven, set timer for 10 minutes.  After 10 minutes stir mixture.  Put tray back in oven and bake another ten minutes.  Again stir the mixture.  Some tomatoes may be sticking to the pan now, use a spatula to scrape them off pan.  Return to oven for 3-5 minutes.  Tomatoes are done when most of the liquid has evaporated.  Allow to cool.  At this point the mixture can be pureed in a food processor or left chunky.  If using to top bruschetta, it is nice to refrigerate so mixture comes together and isn’t runny. 

This is also posted at Real Food Wednesday.