Summer Harvest: Getting Kids to Eat Vegetables

Summer vacation is coming to an end and I have really enjoyed my time away.  Thankfully, just because school is starting, that doesn't mean that the fresh fruits and vegetables of summer are ending too.  There's so much sweet ripe fruit left in summer that it makes me giddy.  The stores are blooming with vegetables that I rarely see in this small neck of the wilderness (can't say woods because I live in the desert.)  I've found parsnips and turnips, huge bundles of bok choy, and purple peppers, not to mention the corn that is just waiting to be grilled under the summer sky.

I hope you're as enchanted by the summer harvest as I am.  I brought home my basket of goodies this morning and started chopping away.  My goal is to keep my kids excited about eating vegetables.  I've tried the Jessica Seinfeld "Deceptively Delicious" approach where you puree vegetables then hide them in their favorite foods. I've also drizzled them with all manner of sauces, but nothing works as well as cutting them in to interesting shapes.  My kids are no longer enchanted by dinosaur shapes, but they do love things that are extra big.  Try cutting your veggies on the bias.  It gives you cucumber discs that are either oval shaped or huge discs, both just beg to be dipped in dressing.  It's also a great way to make a veggie tower.  Just stack large slices of cucumber and tomatoes in the middle of a plate and drizzle with dressing (Italian or Ranch work best). 

Ready-to-eat baby carrots seem to just shrivel away in the bottom of my crisper.  It's cheaper and much more fun to peel organic carrots and cut them into long strips.  These carrot straws are a huge hit with my kids when they're rummaging for snacks.  But the bottom line is that kids like their veggies fresh and ready to eat. If you have room, stack yogurt and nestle string cheese next to your veggies in the crisper.  This turns your crisper into the snack drawer without involving Cheez-Its.  Steer them toward the good stuff and they'll dive in. You don't have to resort to magic tricks.