I have to admit that I do not currently have a problem getting my kids to eat their vegetables. In fact I once heard a few of them arguing over who was going to be able to eat the last of the roasted broccoli. That is music to a mom’s ears. For one of my kids, however, this wasn’t always the case. Spending the first two years in a Chinese orphanage, we guessed that she didn’t eat too much in the way of produce. She was suspicious of anything green that appeared on her plate. She would make sure she pushed it out with her tongue if it made it into her mouth. For her, we had to be stealthy and get creative. In my opinion, these are the five best veggies to sneak into your kids’ food:
1. Zucchini
Of course you can grate zucchini to make bread or muffins (Though I recommend using the food processor. Add a little liquid such as milk or even your eggs to make it process more smoothly). You can also buy an inexpensive spiralizer to make zoodles. Did you know, however, that you can make zucchini taste like apples? I faked out my family with a zucchini coffee cake that they were sure was made out of apples.
Try out this Cinnamon Zucchini Coffee Cake from Crazy for Crust and see if you can fool your eaters, picky or not.
2. Carrots
Carrots are probably an easier vegetable to get kids to eat because they are naturally sweet, and because kids like to have carrots with their Ranch. Still, it’s always nice to be able to get in an extra serving in an unexpected way.
Maybe this is not quite so unexpected, but we enjoy this Whole Wheat Carrot Cake Bread from The Recipe Critic. Again, I recommend using the food processor instead of just grating the carrots. It might be an extra step, but if you’re really trying to be Ninja-esque, it prevents your eater from getting little carrot chunks. I process the yogurt with the carrots to make it easier. To make things really easy on yourself, you can buy pre-shredded carrots. It’s not lazy, it’s called resourceful.
You can also get more creative with this post “14 Tasty Ways to Use Up a Bag of Carrots” from the Food Network. I’ve had pickled carrots before and they are very refreshing.
3. Spinach
Spinach is one of my staples, along with zucchini and carrots. I never cook ground turkey (or beef) without adding those three veggies and onions. Why miss the opportunity to get more nutritional value in when you are having tacos or spaghetti or meatloaf? Maybe you’re worried your kids will see the colored flecks and reject the meal. Throw cheese on top when you’re serving it and they won’t notice.
To me, spinach is a must when I make smoothies. A bag of spinach freezes very well. The leaves do not clump up and are easy to pull out for use.
This recipe for Fudgy Chocolate Spinach Brownies looks interesting. Let me know if you’ve tried it. For other ideas, here is a post for 7 Ways to Sneak Spinach into Food from Everyday Health.
I make a pesto from spinach. I don’t really follow a recipe at this point, I just put spinach into the food processor and add garlic, about 1/2 cup of chicken broth, a few tablespoons of dried basil, a little salt, about 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, 2 Tablespoons of olive oil and process until I like the taste and consistency, adding ingredients where needed.
Here is a recipe from All Recipes for Spinach Pesto, but you really don’t need that much oil. I use the chicken broth as the main liquid to cut calories.
4. Avocado
Okay, yes, this is not a vegetable but a fruit. Actually did you know that avocados are considered to be berries? This is however a superfood and loaded with goodness. It’s creamy consistency makes it a good addition to smoothies. If your kids like salsa, you can smash the avocados and mix it in.
Here is a post titled “5 Ways to Hide Avocados in Your Kids’ Food” to give you more ideas.
In case you need another brownie recipe, here’s one for Avocado Brownies from Well Plated. You just can’t have too many brownie recipes.
5. Cauliflower
Cauliflower mash and cauliflower rice are popular ways to get this vegetable into kids’ diets. I actually feel funny mentioning sneaking this into kids’ foods because my kids love it so much.
Give this method a try at least once: Cut a head of cauliflower into small florets. Drizzle with olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt (if you have it, otherwise regular salt will do, just be careful not to use too much). Place on a baking sheet and bake at 450 degrees for about 20 minutes. Baking at a high heat allows the sugars to come out and brown the tops. Super yummy.
Another way I use cauliflower is in potato soup. I put 2 cups of chicken broth in my instant pot and add a trivet. Onto that I add one head of chopped cauliflower and about 4 cups of potatoes (sorry I don’t really measure, I just fill my pot because I have lots of people to feed). I also add some chopped carrots and two cans of drained white beans (for protein). I set it to cook for 12 minutes on high pressure. Once time is up, I quick release and use my immersion blender to puree the soup. I season it with garlic salt, chili powder, and seasoned salt to taste. I add in chopped bacon and cheddar cheese. Here is an actual recipe you can follow that is very similar to my soup: 30 Minute Cauliflower and Potato Soup.
Hopefully you can use some of these ideas to successfully sneak more veggies into your kids’ foods. You can get more ideas for how to do this in this post from Greatist titled “40 Ways to Sneak Veggies Into Any Meal Without Sacrificing Flavor.”