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Ingenious Ways to Disguise Vegetables for Haters

Have you ever asked yourself why some, if not most, kids seem to hate vegetables? Is it the color? Is it the taste? Perhaps there’s a gene that is switched off until kids reach a certain age, but by then, we’ve got them conditioned to eat the foods that taste good because, as parents, we want to encourage kids to eat veggies!

It would be interesting to do the research one day, but in the meantime, if you are like most families, you have a group sitting around the table who refuse to eat their veggies. Never fear, here are some tips handed down from Mr Garbage Disposal so that you can easily disguise those hated but good-for-you vegetables and no one will be the wiser!

Buy the Best Food Processor You Can Afford

In order to disguise those hated veggies, the best thing you can do for yourself is to buy the best food processor you can afford. By grinding veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, spinach and green beans, you can easily add them to meatloaves and meatballs and no one will even know they are there.

The trick is to add enough garlic and onion to disguise the heavy taste that you get from cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower, but they will be disguised because everyone will think they are breadcrumbs (cauliflower) or parsley (broccoli).

Soups, Stews, and Gravies

While most kids will eat potatoes, it’s hard to make a stew or soup with anything green or orange in it. For those who won’t eat carrots, one trick used by parents around the world is to let them cook long enough for them to be mashed. Add them to a bit of roux, blend them to a puree and then put them in the meat juices to make your gravy.

Yes, a lot of the nutrients will have cooked out, but, many will be preserved if you cook them longer on a lower heat. It is the heat which destroys vitamins, not the length of time they are cooked. Add a bit of browning sauce to your gravy, soup or stew, and voila! No more orange! The same can be done with other veggies as well, just remember the key is to puree them so they aren’t seen.

Smoothies and Shakes

If none of the above work, try making smoothies and shakes. For greens, get your kids interested in mint or pistachio ice cream so they start liking green. Then slowly add a few leafy greens to your ‘shake’ and of course, a bit of extra flavoring wouldn’t hurt. Remember, you don’t want them to know what they are eating until you can tell them one day that they have been eating all those good-for-you veggies they still believe they hate.

It takes time, patience, and a little experimenting, but before you know it, all those haters will be loving the very vegetables they claim they’ll NEVER try. See if it doesn’t work for you. It has for millions of parents around the world and there’s no reason to think you can’t be successful as well.

Sam Roberts
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