Our grandson is not really a picky eater. He eats well, but refuses to eat any vegetables. So upon preparing for his visit. I decided to test out a way to sneak some vegees into his diet. I was planning on having lasagna so while I was making my sauce a thought came to me and I decided to put it to the test.
I boiled about a cup of baby carrots until a fork pierced them easily, just as you would test potatoes for mashing. I did not add any butter or milk but mashed the carrots into a thick puree. I ended up with about a 1/2 a cup of mashed carrots, which I promptly dumped into the sauce.
The sauce did not lose any flavor nor did the texture change. The carrots were perfectly disguised among the savory flavors of the sauce. But the true triumph was that my grandson, who is only 2, devoured TWO servers of lasagna. Victory!
Next I would like to try and mash cauliflower to some mac and cheese. I believe that certain vegetable such as potatoes, cauliflower, squash and carrots will be easily masked by the other ingredients as they seem to absorb flavors. Whereas, peppers for example will alter flavors, while others may change texture. Which is why I selected carrots due to their color and absorbance properties.
If you have done or learned any “sneaky” trips for picky eaters I would love to hear about them.
Stay tuned for the mac n cheese, cauliflower test…
Cooking w/ Author, K.G. Petrone 