I read a wonderful article in the June 2007 issue of Good Housekeeping this week. It was all about making vegetables more palatable and had a catchy title that would definitely appeal to my family, “Learn to Love the Veggies You Hate.” Of course, they would probably more likely appreciate something like, “How to Keep Your Mom from Fixing Vegetables EVER” but so far that one hasn’t made it to the major magazines.
Sarah finishes up the last of the Baked French Toast from Tuesday.
Now I like most vegetables but they managed to pick a few that don’t even make it to my “hey, let’s try this” list. To be fair (ie put myself in a better light) two of the veggies are favorites and eaten almost daily in our house.
I’m an adventuresome soul and always ready to experiment on my family with new, healthy, weird concoctions (they love me for this, I assure you) so I determined to try out one of Good Housekeeping’s veggie recipes. To be safe I started with something that looked down right acceptable: Broccoli Gratin. It has broccoli (something we already eat regularly) and potatoes. How can you go wrong? I figure I’ll ease them into these slowly and then hit them with one of the others like Shredded Beets with Celery and Dates (oh yeah, that’s gonna go over well here).
Broccoli Gratin
1 pound broccoli florets
1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 in chunks
2 cups water
Pinch ground nutmeg (I omitted this)
3/4 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Salt/pepper
Boil potatoes and broccoli until tender (17 to 20 minutes)
Drain vegetables, reserving 1/4 cup cooking liquid. Mash veggies, adding some reserved cooking liquid if mixture seems dry. Stir in nutmeg, 1/4 cup Parmesan, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper.
In shallow baking dish, spread vegetable mixture; sprinkle with remaining Parmesan.
Broil 2 to 3 minutes or until Parmesan is browned.
I did have to make some adjustments to the recipe. I didn’t have any Yukon Gold potatoes. I cut up a small bag of red potatoes to use then changed my mind. I ended up drizzling them with Olive Oil, salt and fresh Parmesan and baking them in the oven. I decided to use instant mashed potatoes instead. I cooked the broccoli (didn’t measure) in water with some salt and butter until soft (and mushy, I mean very tender). I saved the liquid and pureed the broccoli in the food processor. I added some milk and a little more butter to the water and mixed up some instant mashed potatoes. I stirred in some sharp cheddar cheese (couldn’t resist) and then added the broccoli. I put the whole mixture into a Coring Ware dish, topped with fresh Parmesan and popped it into the oven with the roasting red potatoes.
It was delicious! Everyone liked it (well, everyone who likes mashed potatoes). It would also work, I think, with cooked cauliflower (although don’t tell my family or they’ll start to get suspicious). Tim thought it was a fairly painless way to eat broccoli. Joshua wasn’t sure about it as he couldn’t tell how many potatoes and how much broccoli he was eating. I think he likes his food separated out. It’s just proper, potatoes should be on one side and veggies the other with meat in the center. 
On another, sweeter note, I made some yummy carrot cookies for an after dinner treat. It was so healthy I didn’t even charge the kids for a dessert point.
I LOVE this cookbook!! It’s one of my current favorites. If you like to bake and get excited about wheat germ, lecithin granules, and soy flour and recipes that unabashedly use these type of “exotic” ingredients, then you simply HAVE to check out this book or one of the author’s other selections.
The Smart Baking Cookbook: Muffins, Cookies, Biscuits and Breads by Jane Kinderlehrer
A friend introduced me to the author’s books, Smart Cookies and Smart Muffins. I found the Smart Baking Cookbook at the library. It has a collection of the muffins, cookies, and bread recipes all in one. I’ve gone to Amazon.com several times to buy the book but keep resisting (I mean, library rentals go for 3 weeks so I have time). Tim and I are a serious budget these days so there isn’t a lot of extra money available for “frivolous spending.” Still, I do have some anniversary money kicking around and definitely MUST own this book. We have Amazon Prime this year which means all of our Amazon shipping is FREE (if it is an Amazon sold item and not through another seller). How tempting is that??
Tonight I made:
Golden Carrot Molasses Gems
1/3 cup vegetable oil (preferably olive)
1/3 cup molasses
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup grated raw carrots
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
2 tbs bran
2 tbs rice polish or soy flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup powdered milk
2/3 cup raisins
1 1/4 cup rolled oats
In food processor, blender, or mixing bowl, combine oil, molasses, egg and vanilla. Blend until smooth and creamy. Add carrots and blend.
Combine wheat flour, wheat germ, bran, rice polish or soy flour, baking pwdr, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, and milk powder.
Add to carrot mixture. Blend briefly. Stir in raisins and oats.
Bake 350 of 12 to 15 minutes.
These were delicious! The kids all loved them. One thing I especially appreciate about the author is all the additional information she incorporates in her recipes. She gives tips on when and what to serve with the goodies, what kind of nutritional value is emphasized in each recipe, and so on.
I did have to make a list and buy some things not normally found in my pantry. Most everything was found in the bulk food section of one of our local grocery stores so it wasn’t too difficult.
There you have it. Two new recipes to try and one book recommendation. Enjoy.
Kathy
Project 365 – Day 158
Why not stay with the tryed and true ie. spaghetti. Evan I a nearly 11-year-old can do the greater part of making spaghetti.
How funny! I just bought that same issue and when flipping through it saw the Veggie article! The pictures of the interesting veggies to try definately caught my eye as they weren’t the every day veggies I cook! Now I’ll definately go back and check it out! Your recipe looked pretty good!
Kathy,
I’m always on the lookout for a new recipe!
We have a mix here of those that love and those that do not love vegetables. I’ll have to try the gratin, it looks yummy.
YUM. AK
Samuel – sometimes I just HAVE to make something other than spaghetti. I’m glad you’re learning how to cook! You will be a great help to your family and you can start making the things you like.
Posie – how funny you saw the same recipe. I’d love to know if any of the others are good. I need to be brave and just try some of them out. Ha!