How to cook vegetables for children: here are 5 tasty recipes
A bit ‘is in the collective imagination I know, but if I think of the face of a child in front of a plate of vegetables, I imagine a language outside that makes bleah! or at least an enthusiasm in eating it similar to this:
Unfortunately, apart from rare cases, it is well known that children do not like vegetables as much as a slice of cake, so we parents just have to dream of a child who finishes all the vegetables like this:
How nice it would be eh? 😉
But if dreaming of children greedy for vegetables seems to demand too much, it is also true that there are tricks and recipes to make children eat vegetables more willingly.
One of these systems is certainly to set a good example: eating vegetables every day, possibly in a different way, can encourage children to do the same. Even involving them in the preparation of dishes can be a good way to bring them closer to vegetables, as well as creating characters and telling stories about vegetables can intrigue and make them more “good” to eat.
For example, I have done all of these things. Broccoli has never been lacking and my daughter has gotten used to eating it since she was a child, while it was her job to shell the peas or mix the puree. Telling the stories about vegetables, on the other hand, was more difficult because each time you had to come up with a different one. 🙂
In any case, with children every effort is in vain if it is not accompanied by a good recipe that transforms vegetables into good-to-eat dishes or a clever recipe that transforms vegetables into dishes that are beautiful to look at.
5 tasty recipes for cooking vegetables for children
To give you some suggestions, I searched the web for 5 tasty recipes for cooking vegetables for children according to the various courses. Obviously you won’t have to prepare a lunch or dinner based only on vegetables, but know that if you want an idea for an appetizer, a first course, a second course, a side dish or a dessert based on vegetables, here’s what you can cook.
Pie-pops appetizer
Pie pops are Small pies on a stick in a Savory version , a nice and original idea to prepare a captivating vegetable-based finger food appetizer. They can also be offered to the little ones on the occasion of parties or birthdays.
To make good pie pops, just prepare a shortcrust pastry with tomato sauce for the red pie pops and a shortcrust pastry based on spinach for the green pie pops. With cookie cutters you can then make puff pastry shapes to fill with delicious fillings and put on a stick.
First course with vegetable Ragu
One of the safest ways to get children to eat vegetables is to use them as the main ingredient to prepare a good sauce for pasta. On the web there are many recipes for preparing vegetable ragù, I found one based on pumpkin, zucchini, carrot and potatoes.
Second course of zucchini arrosticini
Usually arrosticini are meat-based, but I found a recipe for making really delicious zucchini arrosticini .
They are baked in the oven and presented on a convenient toothpick.
Side dish with fake “chips”
Here’s an alternative dish to create a healthy and crunchy side dish: fake chips. They aren’t fried and they aren’t even potatoes, but baked carrot sheets. They remain sweet and crunchy and can be flavored as desired. The kids will go crazy for it!
Pumpkin pancake dessert
Vegetables also in dessert? Of course yes! Pancakes are good, soft and suitable for both breakfast and children’s snacks and together with the classic ingredients you can add a special one: pumpkin!
Here, these are just some simple recipes for children with vegetables that you can try.
And if you are good at cooking and have imagination, you can indulge yourself with Visual Food and present the vegetables in a truly captivating way as if they were real drawings. If you want some examples, look at the dishes of a real artist, visit her site leesamantha.com and take inspiration from her.
Kathryn Barlow is an OB/GYN doctor, which is the medical specialty that deals with the care of women's reproductive health, including pregnancy and childbirth.
Obstetricians provide care to women during pregnancy, labor, and delivery, while gynecologists focus on the health of the female reproductive system, including the ovaries, uterus, vagina, and breasts. OB/GYN doctors are trained to provide medical and surgical care for a wide range of conditions related to women's reproductive health.