Tasty Vegetable Recipes Anyone?

Kids like to dip raw veggies in stuff, so try a low fat, low sodium ranch dressing or (even better) humus.

You can try a "salad bar" for tacos and let them make their own - if they will.

Also, get one of Jessica Seinfeld's books (one is "Deceptively Delicious" I think) and see how to hide things in mac & cheese and other recipes. You'd be astounded. And they are easy to cook - you can do it!

Have you tried making them look funny? Cucumber eyes, olive pupils, carrot hair, cauliflower ears..... or Cut the cucumber so it's stripped and then get carrot and use a cheese grater to shred that up. There are a lot of great salad dressings you could try dipping raw cucumber and raw broccili in. Challenge your family to "eat a rainbow" this week and see how many different fruits/veggies you can eat of each color.

My fav way to eat a lot of veg is with a stir fry. I cook ramen noodles (per instructions) then plop them in a sautee pan with sesame oil and butter. Let them sautee on low/medium while in a second pan I sautee meat (sausage or leftover rotisserie chicken) with onion, jalepeno, bell pepper, carrot, and snow peas (fresh are crunchier than the frozen). We all eat it up. My 4 yr old son likes opening the snow peas to discover and count the peas inside.

So all in all - um, make it fun? If the kids see you trying something new I would bet they'll be more willing to try it as well.

added: Sue made me think of something. When my son was real little (18 months?) I'd prepare a veggie plate (cucumber and carrot marinating in italian dressing OR broccili and cucumber and carrot and bell pepper with a tiny bowl of ranch dressing). BTW we called bell peppers "Crunchies" because he was scared they were spicy. Red bell peppers are delish! So anyway - I'd serve the veggie plate to husband and son to munch on while I finished the main meal. By the time dinner was ready half the veg was eaten by both hungry guys. So offering it to your kids as a "your hungry? Well dinner is running late. Here's what you can have for now." may help!

Sweet potato fries: peel & cut sweet potato into wedges, drizzle with oil, mix to coat, add salt and pepper. Roast on a baking sheet until done - I think 20 min to half hour at 350 or 375 degrees. Roasted veggies aren't too picky as long as you keep an eye on them.

You and your daughter can both work on your lack of taste for vegetables. Start with the freshest, in season, vegetables. Take her shopping with you at a farmer's market, if there's one near you. Have "tasting parties" where you both try new things. Get a few different versions of a vegetable and "experiment" by tasting them and comparing. Try those same steamed with butter, sauteed with olive oil and salt, roasted in the oven. Try different dips with them. Decide together which you like best.

Serve your dinner in "courses". When she's hungry, put just a few vegetables on a plate and serve them to her, with nothing else offered. Don't force, threaten, or punish - just offer. After a bit, serve the main course.

Hi! Try roasting everything, even my non-cauliflower eaters will voluntarily eat that and I can't make enough carrots to satisfy them. Roasting makes things sweeter. Try making sticks of things, roast them, and serve like fries. You can hide lots of things in meatloaf. I used to make it 50/50 with mashed beans and my kids never figured it out. You can mash and add veggies into lots of things. I even put a good layer of spinach on pizza (under everything) and even my spinach hater hasn't noticed. Good luck!

One thing we like is squash casserole. Slice yellow squash and place in a glass dish. Pour a little milk in the bottom. Cut up green onion and add to the squash mixture. Add some salt and pepper and microwave on 70% for 8-12 minutes, just long enough to cook the squash and soften it. Top with shredded cheddar cheese and crushed crackers. cook again until cheese is melted and hen serve.

Also asparagus: wash a bunch of asparagus and cut the ends off. Place on a cookie sheet. Drizzle a LITTLE olive oil over it, sprinkle with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Pick up the cookie sheet and move it around a little to coat all the asparagus. Bake at 350 for 12 minutes.

Roasted veggies: put several different veggies in a roasting pan. I like to use 1 bag of raw broccoli and cauliflower, 1 carton of whole mushrooms, 1 bag of baby carrots, 1 white onion, 2 yellow squash sliced, 2 zucchinis sliced and a bag or red potatoes. Pour some olive oil, salt, pepper, red pepper, and some herb seasonings over the veggies and toss to coat. Bake at 350 until roasted. Probably about 1 hour to 1 15. Good luck!

My sister, who does not normally eat any green food other than Jello, had seconds when I served asparagus that I had roasted in the oven.
Wash it and trim the ends, lay it out on a cookie sheet, brush it with olive oil and sprinkle with crushed garlic and a little sea salt. Put in the oven at a low heat (you want to cook it to crisp-tender without scorching it).

I offer this recipe because my kids (5, 3 & 1) LOVED it when I made it the other day. Whole Foods' recipe for: Sonoma Chicken Salad

Only changes I mad-- I didn't have poppy seeds, so I just omitted that. Didn't have celery, so did diced red & green peppers instead, and used walnuts (raw & chopped) instead of toasted pecans.

http://www2.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/526

Green beans

Corn on the cob (or can if you have to)

sliced veggies w/Ranch

Barefoot Contessa's Vegetable Tian (yum). Sliced potatoes, tomatoes & zucchini's. Place carmelized onions in bottom of baking dish, alternate slices of veggies (1 tomatoe slice, 1 zucc slice, 1 potatoe slice & keep going oall around the dish (looks like standing dominoes), top w/grueyer cheese. Bake @ 350 degrees for 30 -45 mins. Yum.

Spring rolls (make or buy your own). If you purch (froz section), they come w/a yummy dipping sauce!

One of my kids favorites is honey glazed carrots. It's a really easy tasty recipe. I don't have it in front of me but there are a few. One is carrots, brown sugar, honey, & lemon juice - and there is another one that I think was carrots, water, brown sugar, & butter. Just Google honey glazed carrots! One of my favorites is brussel sprouts....I like Steam Fresh...they are in the frozen section and you microwave them in the bag. They taste the best to me. But I thaw them out...and cook them in chicken broth! Most of the time I put them in a container of chicken broth and let them sit overnight...so yummy! And another one is asparagus in bearnaise sauce. Good luck! : )

We love this:
Fresh green beans, steamed until tender. Drain.
Melt butter & add slivered almonds & a little lemon juice. Pour over beans in a serving dish.

Head to websites like Allrecipes and start hunting for simple recipes. A couple months ago Parents magazine had an article and recipes for sneaking veggies in, in very creative ways. Maybe your local library still has a copy? Otherwise, you and their dad really need to make an effort to start eating more vegetables. Even if it's carrots and Ranch dressing to start with. You could try the organic veggies too. I honestly think they have more flavor than the other kind. Everyone who tries my carrot sticks is surprised. The more you dig for recipes, the better you'll get at making them tastier and more appetizing. Although, 4 year olds are a tough crowd :P

Off the top of my head...roasted broccoli. After cleaning and cutting into a bite size...size, toss it with a little olive oil, fresh minced garlic, salt and pepper. Roast it in the oven, about 375, for 15 minutes or so. I take it out half way and give it a good stir. After it's out drizzle it with fresh lemon juice. So fresh and delicious!! My not quite 1 year old was a huge fan!

I recently made veggie burgers that were yummy. I used about 2 shredded potatoes, 1/2 cup *each* diced asparagus, cauliflower, red peppers, sweet onion, 2 cloves of garlic, about 1/4 cup bread crumbs and 2 eggs. I mixed it all up together, formed them into patties and then shallow fried them till nice and brown and crispy. YUM!

Also, I put finely shredded veggies (carrots, broccoli, zucchini) in my regular burgers and meatloafs.