It seems that whenever a kid is a picky eater or doesn't want to eat his veggies you always here an adult comment, "Oh, it's okay, they'll grow out of it." Well, I don't want to be discouraging to any of you who are going through this with your own kids but they might not. I know from firsthand experience. You see, I hate veggies. Growing up I always seemed to avoid eating very many. I must be the black sheep in my family or something because everyone else liked them except for me. They attribute my short stature to my lack of veggie eating (since my sisters are all several inches taller than me--and they ate their veggies). The family rule was "try everything"... so I would often end up with some minuscule portion of squash or spinach or whatever other vegetable was being served. And when I talk small, I mean small... so small most normal people wouldn't be able to taste it. But I could. I remember having to sit at the table until I ate my tomatoes and then, after everyone left, throwing them in the trash or down the sink. Things haven't changed much--except that no one forces me to eat my vegetables anymore. Sometimes Rich will convince me that they aren't that bad so I give them another try... but my face still contorts into a horrible grimace every time broccoli, cauliflower, or asparagus touches my lips. I just can't help it. I say nothing has changed but in reality some things have. In college I learned to like salads. I will, on occasion, eat cooked carrots. I at least try veggies now (except for tomatoes... I will never like tomatoes). Now, I know that my family needs to eat their veggies. I think I'm doing an okay job... that is, until we go somewhere and I hear Rich say, "Ooh, I love broccoli." Oops, guess I'm not serving that enough. I just don't even think to serve something that makes me gag.
So this is where this wonderful new cookbook comes in. Some of you may have heard of Jessica Seinfeld's (yup, Jerry's wife) new cookbook Deceptively Delicious. The idea is to puree vegetables and occasionally fruits and "sneak" them into your dinners. You still have to serve a veggie at dinner but at least you know that one is being eaten unknowingly. In the few weeks since I've had this book I have eaten spinach, cauliflower, carrots, and sweet potatoes. Some of the recipes are better than others and some I probably won't make again. I like the idea though and will use it in recipes that I know that I already like. I think it's a great idea... and if you can get ME to eat veggies it has to be good.
