Cooking with vegetables: Tips and recipes that children will love

Although vegetables are a fundamental part of a healthy balanced diet, children tend to not like them at all. They are in their not favorite list. Getting their children’s meals to include appealing greens requires thinking like a kid. We must invite children to participate in the creation of the dishes and discover original meals that they cannot resist.

Operation concealment

When it is time to eat at households, children come together around the kitchen table. And they aren’t normally too happy if the dish in front of them is mainly green. The truth is that 90% of children don’t eat enough greens, although nutrition experts estimate that the daily recommended serving for a healthy diet is two.

Eating vegetables in front of the kids is a good way to change their view on them. We must set an example of how important they are within the diet of any family member thanks to their many nutrients. And then we must also plan fun and visually attractive recipes for the children, where vegetables are completely concealed. Say goodbye to traditional and boring dishes. It is the perfect moment to create eye-catching meals.

For example, we can add vegetables to the child’s favorite dish without them barely noticing. Concealing vegetables in small amounts in rice, macaroni, spaghetti, chicken thighs and skewers, soups, etc. is a wonderful strategy so they ingest them frequently. Kids probably won’t notice them, since the idea is for the veggies to be hidden. It is also a matter of training their taste buds, educating their palate so they become familiar with the new textures and flavors of these foods. Nobody is born rejecting flavor.

Culinary negotiations

Making specific concessions with our young ones also works. For example, openly agree on which recipes we know they will love to have and introduce certain vegetables in them. Hamburgers are probably one of the star dishes, a perfect chance to add a side dish of roasted peppers or broccoli.

On the other hand, kids will love eggs, omelets, cannelloni, sausages and croquetas. A good middle point is promising to prepare these meals and mixing them with vegetables. Success is guaranteed. We will also renew our routine dishes with healthy and tasty changes: pumpkin souffle, cauliflower croquetas, chard pudding. We just have to try.

 Chefs in the kitchen

Another wonderful way to get children to accept the food is inviting them to participate in the creations. For them, it will be difficult to reject the incentive. They can choose which vegetables to eat, instead of just feeling forced to ingest what we’ve prepared. The best idea is to have them as sous-chefs, which will be a game for them, and it will increase participation in the meals.

It is important to create fun and original recipes, trying out different techniques and ways of preparing them (oven, skillet, etc.). Maybe we can ask the child to help prepare flans, casseroles, and fun skewers where they can decide which vegetables to combine and how. And we can always try homemade pizzas with zucchini, artichokes, eggplant, etc. This new generation of dishes will help them see vegetables in a different light.