Hiding Vegetables

I love vegetables. Of course, I know that’s not the case for everyone. For some reason, there are people who grow up hating vegetables. Personally, I think there was a rotten vegetable they had as a child that made them think all vegetables were bad. How can you not like carrots or bell peppers? Okay, I know that sounds crazy to some people. The reality is that most people would choose a slice of bread or a piece of fruit over a stalk of broccoli or head of cabbage. Yet, vegetables are an essential part of a healthy diet; they high in vitamins, low in calories.

If we’re cooking for others who we know don’t like vegetables, how can we incorporate the vegetables into the meal, so they are eaten without hesitation, without a grimace? The question is how can we hide the vegetables? Here are a few ideas:

• Puree the vegetables into a marinara or meat sauce for pasta or tomato sauce for a pizza. For some reason, the same people who refuse to eat a tomato are perfectly okay with the tomato sauce on a pizza. Trying to serve yellow squash to someone who is adverse to vegetables can be difficult if the squash looks like squash. (Sounds silly, but it’s true). However, when blended in with a tomato sauce, squash, cauliflower, spinach, onions, zucchini, and many other vegetables can add loads of nutrients to a meal, and no one but the chef needs to know. A puree can be made ahead, then stored in the freezer until it’s time to slip it into another recipe.
• Make an omelet. Surrounded in a fluffy batter of egg, finely chopped bell peppers will not stand out, and would not be worth picking out of an omelet. Pick the camouflaged yellow bell peppers, and then you’re really in business.
• Add a puree to hamburger patties or meat balls. It will add flavor and nutrition; what could be better?

It may sound absurd to hide vegetables in order for others to have a complete meal, but if the trick gets the job done once in a while without complaint, if might be worth it.