Do you have fussy eaters in your family? Do they cringe at the sight or texture of vegetables? Worry not — you are not alone. Studies show that more than half of the United States population does not get the daily recommended amount of fruits and vegetables. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that an average adult consume about 4 to 5 cups of fruits and vegetables daily, or about 400 grams of both, to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Some individuals naturally dislike the taste of vegetables, while others are just picky eaters. If you are in such a situation, this article explores various ways to introduce these foods into your meals and have them taste great.
How to hide veggies in meals for picky eaters
Sneaky puree
Vegetables like broccoli, summer squash, carrots, zucchini, cauliflower, sweet bell peppers, and spinach can be pureed and added to your meals. Start with foods with mild flavors and work your way up. You can also start slowly, incorporating some pureed vegetables every time you cook and increasing the amount slowly.
For instance, pureed squash can be incorporated into macaroni and cheese to give it a thick and creamy consistency. Zucchini, carrots, and sweet bell peppers can also be pureed and added to soups and sauces such as pasta sauce. You can increase your family’s fiber intake while maintaining a healthy and tasty meal.
To make your work easier, you can puree a large batch of vegetables, store them in small ziplock bags or containers, and freeze them. This is handy when you want to fix a meal for your family or kids quickly.
Bake them
Add vegetables to your baked foods for that extra flavor and texture. Zucchini, carrots, and cauliflower can be easily grated and added to your batter before baking. Carrot cakes, zucchini bread, and muffins are great examples of baked goods with vegetables.
You can also blend some precooked butternut, sweet potato, and spinach and add the puree to your brownies, cookies, and cupcakes. Blended beans also mask well in chocolate cakes, brownies, and cookies. They are also a great way to have your family consume a more plant-based diet for extra proteins, fiber, and antioxidants.
Smoothies
Smoothies are the easiest and best way to include vegetables and fruits in your diet. Leafy greens like spinach, endive, and kale can easily be mixed with frozen bananas, avocado milk, and nuts for a healthy breakfast delight. Avocados are also a great way to consume healthy fats.
Play around with your favorite veggies and include seasonal vegetables to create delicious smoothies for your family. Cucumbers, zucchini, carrots, sweet bell peppers, and cauliflower can all be added to smoothies. Just be creative.
Try new flavors
Try something new instead of classic foods such as lasagna and pies. New foods strike curiosity, so you can introduce a new food with your vegetables inside. For instance, you can try eggs, bacon, and vegetable pie. Here, you can introduce your grated carrots, thinly sliced cabbage, zucchini, bell peppers, and peas.
You can also try chicken, mushroom, and spinach lasagna instead of the classic beef lasagna to spice up your palate. You still get to eat your tasty lasagna, but a healthier version of it. You can also introduce different veggies into your meatloaf instead of just ground beef.
Summer treats
Make summertime sweet treats like popsicles healthy by cutting down on processed sugars and artificial sweeteners and using fruits and vegetables instead. You can use fruits like pineapples, mangoes, coconuts, watermelons, berries, vegetables like spinach, cucumbers, carrots, and a range of herbs like mints to make popsicles with a pop of color, minerals, and vitamins.
Healthy pizzas
Instead of the classical wheat flour pizza crust, you can make a healthy pizza crust using cauliflower flour. For your homemade sauce, you can also use fresh-blend tomatoes, spinach, bell peppers, coriander, garlic, ginger, and carrots. You can also halve the meat toppings and replace them with sliced vegetables.
This is a fun and exciting way to introduce more vegetables into your diet and consume the much-needed fiber and vitamins.
In summary
Nutritionists recommend that you consume about five servings of fruits and vegetables. However, a more significant percentage of the population worldwide doesn’t meet this recommendation. And sometimes it’s simply because of picky eating.
There are several ways to attain your daily fruit and vegetable intake, including fruit and vegetable salads, adding vegetables to baked foods and smoothies, and cooking them in a new way that sparks curiosity. Remember, you can explore other ways to overcome fussy eating because disguising veggies in your meals is a short-term strategy — you can’t cook secretly forever.
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