Chocolate and Spinach

I felt a little giddy as I assembled the ingredients for Jessica Seinfeld's brownies tonight. After all, Oprah nearly did a backflip after tasting one and, well, then their was Jerry's "death row" description. I was eager to see for myself. Could brownies made with spinach actually be good?

Really, it seemed insane to add a half a cup of green sludge (pureed spinach) into the chocolaty mixture, and I cringed as I whisked. I remembered the book's title "Deceptively Delicious," and decided I'd be a little deceptive myself and not tell my husband what he was really eating, until after his first bite. After all, I don't have a 3-year-old to fool. Why not have a little fun with Jason?

The batter came together well (though I was struck by how little butter the recipe called for), and I spread it into the pan. While baking, there was a sweet, chocolaty smell in the kitchen, along with something else. Cooked broccoli? Peas? Asparagus? I began to worry.

Thirty minutes later, after the kitchen timer beeped, I ran to the oven -- so excited to assess my experiment that I forgot the potholder and burned my finger. I consoled myself with a warm slice of brownie.

Light and cakey, with a faint vegetable aftertaste (a little like, well, spinach salad), it wasn't the taste sensation I had hoped for. It was mediocre, at best. I cut a square for Jason. "Here," I said. "Try this. It's a new recipe."

He took a bite, hardly looking up from the TV ("The Office" was on, can you blame him?). "Low fat, huh?" he said.

I nodded. "And, they're made with, um, spinach."

He didn't protest or balk or set down his plate. In fact, he helped himself to another.

Hmm, I thought. Maybe Jessica Seinfeld is on to something? I can hardly wait until my son's first birthday. I'll make the recipe for chocolate cake -- with beets, of course.