What other hidden-veggie recipe can I try?

Deceptively Delicious might be a good investment for you. It has a killer butternut squash taco recipe!

I’d like to know what types of foods you do like before suggesting ways to trick yourself into eating your vegetables. Do you like spicy foods? Do you like sweet foods? Do you like omelets? Lasagna? Soups? Do you like pizza, spaghetti?

Honestly, you sound like my son-in-law. Very frustrating. His mother created this monster I’m now dealing with and he’s trying his damnest to create it in my granddaughter. What happened to you that you weren’t taught to eat your veggies? Gggrrr Sorry. I didn’t meant to overreact to your question. It just really boggles my mind as to why people weren’t taught to try new things when they were young.

Do you like corn? Have you tried grilled portobello mushrooms? Salsas, cheese dips?

How about a rice dish like Paella with sausage, shrimp, chicken, whatever meat you want to throw in and add some peas and roasted red pepper? You can use Vigo yellow rice if you don’t want to do the rice and saffron from scratch, and just add canned or frozen peas in the last 5 minutes of cooking the rice, frozen precooked shrimp, and some sausage. I roast my own peppers in the toaster oven and then peal them, but I think you can buy them in a jar in the Italian section.

For stir fry I love rice, bok choy, zuchini, mushrooms, and you can add whatever meat you like and some soy sauce or teryaki sauce.

Are salads out? You might like spring mix with apples and walnuts and Paul Newman’s rasberry walnut vinagrette. It’s sweet so you might like it.

Sauteed carrots. Slice the carrots across so you have a bunch of circles. Add a small amount of margarine, oil, or butter to a pan, then the carrots, small sprinkle of garlic salt, and then a little extra salt. Saute for a minute or too on each side so the carrots still have some crunch, but just starting to get a little brown, and they are done.

Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld recommended by a jelly above is a good idea.

I know this is the type of answer that would infuriate me if I specifically asked for recipes that hide vegetables, so I apologize in advance…

I think it’s possible to develop a taste for vegetables, and merely hiding them isn’t necessarily the way. I was not a vegetable fan when I was a kid. But now, I honestly love them. It took years of tolerating them because they were good for me, along with some real experimentation – all types of salads, grilling them, stir frying them, finding the freshest local options, etc.

When people tell me they don’t like beer, wine, tea, or dark chocolate, my response is the same. For many, these are tastes you develop.

Have you tried any Indian vegetarian food? The spices are so yummy, it doesn’t matter that you’re eating veggies.

Tis true, @tom_g.

Last night, my husband, who has lost 35 pounds and is still losing, grilled me salmon and himself a steak. He doesn’t like salmon but has been trying bites of mine and says he may be getting a taste for it. We had Brussel sprouts and baby carrots roasted and marinated asparagus. OMG It was so good. The fact that I didn’t have to cook made it ever better.

Does your husband like vegetables?

@bkcunningham Well, I was a very picky eater as a kid. My parents tried to get me to try new things, but I simply wouldn’t. My sister loves vegetables, so I don’t think I can blame my parents for that one. My husband doesn’t eat vegetables either, or fruit for that matter, because his mom never got him to try them. He refuses to eat any of these healthy dinners I make for myself, so we eat separate meals. It’s frustrating, but he’s naturally very thin so I’d prefer him not to lose any weight just because he doesn’t like the food I make.

As for what I do like – any type of pasta that isn’t whole grain (again, texture), rice, potatoes, bread, soups, meat, cheese, and anything else extremely fattening. See my problem? I’m not a huge fan of spicy, but I’ll try it as long as it’s not so hot it makes you sweat.

I do like salsa, but I dip as opposed to scooping. I like the flavor, but the chunky-ness? Not so much. Anyways, the chips kind of ruin the healthy aspect if salsa.

I’m not thrilled about veggies either. I wish I was one of those people who drools over the idea of squash. It isn’t going to happen.

Things I do are make up vegetable slices and lasagnes, plus as @janbb suggested, some Indian veggie recipes are delicious. Likewise, check out some Hare Krishna recipes.

I scour recipe books for different things to do with veggies. Stephanie Alexander has a couple of books that include interesting things you can do. I know you aren’t a big cook and you’re short of time but if you make up enough of the thing you can use if for a few days. Even cooking up a little diced bacon, then adding peas, with some baby spinach tastes yummy but isn’t too unhealthy. You don’t need a lot of bacon.

Soup is only fattening if you only eat cream soups. Do you like Split pea soup? Minestrone? Lentil? Zucchini? Just a start for soups with some veg or legumes. Progresso Lentil soup is one of the better canned soups. You can try it for $2 and if you hate it throw it out and never buy it again. The obvious veg soups are vegetable beef, or chicken vegetable.

I hate chunky salsa! My husband is Mexican and he favors no chunks also. There are smooth salsas.

You can add salsa to hamburger meat and grill the burger. I love mango salsa and eat it as a side dish with just about anything, but it is really good like a chutney with pork dishes.

I bet it is frustrating, @livelaughlove21. I wish he’d see it as anything that is important enough to compromise with or experiment with either. My son-in-law is frustrating, but I do have to give him credit. He’s coming around a little and is willing to try a bite or two of new things but only because we’ve really told them how important it is that he sets a good example for his daughter. She idolizes him and is like his little shadow. He sees it and is trying.

Have you tried veggie lasagna? Or even just meat lasagna with one veggie thrown in for starters. Or how about shepherd’s pie? Kabobs would be a good way to try different veggies with different seasonings.

I was thinking that putting spinach in chocolate brownies would be a good idea—since people hide other green leafy stuff in brownies all the time. I found a recipe.V6594678.pdf and it was a free sample from that “Deceptively Delicious” cook book.

Here’s the link again since fluther doesn’t seem to like it. You’ll have to cut and paste it. http://g-ec2.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/books/a-plus/Seinfeld_Brownies.V6594678.pdf

I put spinach in lasagna or eat it in a strawberry salad, in an artichoke dip or as a side with vinegar. I’ve never tried it in a brownie. To me it is like eating a double bacon cheeseburger and having a diet Coke. Sorry.

@bkcunningham Ha, I order a diet come with everything I eat, no matter how unhealthy. Not because I think it negates the fat that I’m about to shove that bacon cheeseburger down my throat, but because I can’t stand the taste of regular soda. My dad was diagnosed with diabetes when I was a kid, and neither of us ever went back to regular Coke.

YOU love spinach, @bkcunningham but the OP is trying to hide veggies and put get them in a way they find palatable.

And she’s watching her calories and her weight, @keobooks. I’d be willing to try it if I wasn’t changing my eating habits and really, really trying for healthier lower calories as a lifestyle change. But, I am like a recovering junkaholic and chocoholic. Dark chocolate is my favorite. I’m afraid one bite right now and I’d instantly gain back the weight I’ve lost.

I have just within the past three months started drinking diet sodas. I never liked the flavor and refused to compromise except for an occasional diet Dr. Pepper or a Fresca. I drink water now and I’m really trying to not drink so many artificial sweetners. It is tough to change your eating habits. It is tough to lose weight and get back in shape as you get older and your metabolism changes.

Do it now young women. Teach your children and future children to eat healthy and take care of themselves. Be good role models. My Mom was a diabetic and did the best she knew how and died too early from renal failure. I want my granddaughter to eat healthy because I do know better now.

Oh my, was this Q set up to torture me? LOL. I’m going to have to come back to this one, I want to be really thorough and hopefully helpful.

Suffice it to say, I too was one of those uber-picky children. Thankfully my parents didn’t force me to eat anything. So when I became a vegetarian at age 25, I knew a lot of things were going to have to change. I was going to have to learn to really know how to cook, to read labels and to try new things, even if it meant that I had to try those things multiple times and with different methods. I have heard that it often takes between 10 and 12 tries of eating something to develop a taste for them, so not all hope is lost.

When I was 24, I never would have imagined in a million years that I’d be eating things like kale, mushrooms and turnips.

Will have to come back tomorrow, to get started on this one.

Thank goodness, @Kardamom. You sound like the perfect teacher for this one. I hope I get some new recipes. Yummie

Make red velvet cupcakes using roasted red beets instead of food coloring. Delicious.

Broccolli and cheese soup? Mushroom soup? Both homemade and well blended, of course. Hummus dip? pickles?

@livelaughlove21 I was sort of a picky eater too as a child, although I always liked several vegetables. It should get easier as you get older to acquire a taste for foods you couldn’t tolerate as a child. Children have many more taste buds than adults typically, and some adults have more than the average adult. This is why a lot of children only like bland food, and as we get older we can eat “stronger” foods. Since you are still fairly young, in time as your ability to tatse and even smell dulls a little it should help. Along with the willingness to add bits of veggies and get accustomed to the flavor.

It’s not just a flavor thing. It’s a texture thing. And it’s really hard to get over a texture aversion.

@keobooks I 100% agree texture is a big deal. Great point! I wonder if the OP lives in a place where they boil vegetables to death. The south is famous for this, but other parts of the country and individual families do it too. My husband forever told me he hated cooked carrots, finally I made him my sautéed carrots after years of his objections and he loved them. He said, I thought they were going to mushy like carrots in soup (which he picks out of soup usually). Or, maybe the OP would rather mushy vegetables?

I spent a lot of time working on this last night, but then my Windows closed un-expectedly : (

But the more I thought about it, the more I kept thinking that unless you are really committed to this, it’s not going to work, no matter how many recipes we post. I know a lot of people who think practically every thing I eat is yucky even though they’ve either never tasted it, or only tasted something similar one time and then they were done.

Like I said earlier, I was extremely picky when I was a kid, but things started to change in my early 20’s. Things that I hated now seemed interesting, and I had to literally create a new set of foods for myself, since I became a vegetarian. Luckily I had a good friend who had been a vegetarian for a long time before we ever met and he introduced me to things I had never known about, nor had ever considered. I would say mostly that had to do with ethnic cuisines as opposed to specific foods, so maybe I’ll try that route. I will let you know, though, I am particularly fond of very spicy, flavorful foods, bland doesn’t work for me at all.

So with that in mind, let’s begin.

One thing that is all the rage here in California is phở, a Vietnamese soup traditionally made with a broth made from beef stock and beef bones, then it’s loaded up with noodles and vegetables. You can make it yourself, but it’s relatively inexpensive at most of the phở restaurants, especially the mom and pop places. Here is textbook example of how to make Phở just to give you an idea of what it is supposed to be like, but this recipe is rather involved. Here is a Vegetarian Phở that’s much easier to make and has more veggies.

The best soup I ever ate came from a Vietnamese vegan restaurant called Au Lac. I was able to closely replicate that Hot and Sour Soup with this recipe. The only change I made was to up the amount of vinegar from 2 Tablespoons to 6, which made all the difference.

Here is an Asian Slaw that is nothing like the typical Western-style, mayonnaise-laden coleslaw that you usually see. This dish is light and crispy, with a sweet and sour dressing.

This is Thai Salad with Peanut Dressing. Everything tastes good with peanut dressing!

Here is a Soba Noodle Salad with Vegetables and Shrimp

Oh boy, I’ll have to come back later. We just found an injured baby bird in our back yard and need to take him to the wildlife rescue center!

Ok, I shall start again.

So continuing with the Asian theme, I would suggest an appetizer of Fresh Spring Rolls (this one is more of a Califonianized version) here is another, more traditional, vegetarian version of Spring Rolls, and another Hippie Style Spring Rolls and here is one for Spring Rolls with Shrimp, Avocado and Mango. Spring rolls are very versatile, because you can put all sorts of things into them, including mushrooms, tofu, chicken, and just about any kind of herb (which I’m including as a vegetable). And you can change up the dipping sauces, to make them even more yummy. Such as: Peanut Dipping Sauce, and Sweet and Sour Dipping Sauce, and Chili Garlic Dipping Sauce

Of course Indian cuisine is probably the most vegetable-laden food you can find, and it is extremely tasty, but unless you like your food spicy (and that doesn’t always mean hot, it just means very flavorful, with a great depth of flavor. There is nothing bland about Indian food). For me, the spices in Indian food actually make me feel euphoric, not like a stupid drunk, but like a happy clam : )

So I’ll throw in a couple of my favorite Indian recipes, all of which are easily attainable in any Indian restaurant (note: lunch buffets at Indian restaurants are an amazing bargain, because you can usually sample anywhere from 6 to 20 different items at the same time). But here are my top 3 favorites: Vegetable Korma (kind of like the kitchen sink of Indian stews, anything you want to throw in there will work just fine) and Aloo Gobi (cauliflower and potato curry in a spicy tomato/yogurt based gravy) and Chana Masala (chickpea stew in a spicy tomato gravy). Hint: after eating Indian food, you may feel the need to smoke a cigarette or take a cold shower : P

Moving right along, we just got on a plane headed for Mexico! Bust out the Margaritas! Mexican food is also very versatile, in that you can add stuff (vegetables) into most of the dishes. Let’s start with these yummy Vegetable Enchiladas Variation 1 and Vegetable Enchiladas Variation 2 and Vegetable Enchiladas Variation 3. OK, so now we’ve got our enchiladas baking in the oven, but now we need Spanish Rice and Frijoles de Olla and the condiments! First up, we have Spicy Pickled Carrots, and Green Salsa, and Pico de Gallo Salsa, and Spicy Guajillo Salsa, and Blender Salsa (which is similar to what you might get at a Mexican restaurant with your chips).

OK, everybody, check your luggage and make sure you have your passports. We’re headed to Italy!

Italy, like Mexico, just lends itself up to adding vegetables wherever you can, and want to. Here is a delicious Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna with White Sauce and this Sweet Potato and Butternut Squash Lasagna.

I am by no means done here, yet, but I’m going to watch The Big Bang Theory, so I’ll be back later. Cheers!

I’m getting some wonderful, mouthwatering ideas I’m going to try, @Kardamom. Thank you. I know this wasn’t intended for me directly, but I’m going to benefit all the same. But just a a couple of suggestions: I’m allergic to cabbage and can’t tolerate the spice and heat. ~

^^ OK, we’ll see if we can tone the heat down a bit, and find some things that don’t have any cabbage. Can you eat other leafy greens like lettuce and mustard greens and basil?

I’ll be back

OK, everybody, back on the bus, we’re headed for the Mediterranean and the Middle East, particularly Lebanon and Greece. Bust out the pita chips ‘cause we’re gonna make hummus!

This is Classic Hummus made with garbanzo beans and tahini.

Next we have White Bean, Garlic and Basil Hummus

And Sundried Tomato Hummus

Chipotle Hummus

Sweet Potato Hummus

And Cilantro Edamame Hummus

And while we’re on the subject of bean dips, here’s a few more. Pinto Bean Dip, and Ginger Coconut Edamame Dip, and Spicy Black Bean Dip. And this is one of my favorite go-to potluck recipes Cowboy Caviar

All of the above bean dips can be eaten with chips, but they can also be spooned into a tortilla or flatbread, with lettuce, or other chopped vegetables (I like cauliflower, broccoli, radishes and basil) and maybe some chicken.

Again, speaking of beans, this Seven Layer Dip is always a hit at parties.

Who knew that there was also a recipe for a Greek Seven Layer Dip?

The Greeks love them some garbanzo beans, but I bet no one in Greece dolls them up like these Crispy Spiced Garbanzo Beans I’m sure these are a lot more healthy than potato chips.

Another common Greek dish is Spanakopita which can be made with spinach, kale or Swiss Chard, or a mixture of greens. Even people who don’t usually care for spinach tend to like this, because it also has the cheese and the wonderful flaky crust.

And here’s something that even most meat eaters won’t find awful, it’s Falafel, but you can’t have falafel without a side of Tabouli and some Pickled Turnips

Now fold up your tray and return your seat to it’s upright position, we’re headed Home

Oh, yes, I can eat all of those. mmmm. I love pinto beans boiled and cooked until it makes a really nice thick soup. Soup beans. It was a staple when I was growing up. My husband, who is from the north, didn’t eat beans and cornbread growing up. I’m going to try the pinto bean dip this weekend.

I wonder how many calories are in a serving of the Greek spinach pie? It looks delicious.

Have you tried the butternut squash black bean chili. That sounds scrumptious. I love, love, love black beans in any way, shape or form and butternut squash is another of my favorites. That sounds like a perfect combination.

@livelaughlove21, do any of these interest you, friend? I hope you can find a few things to try and I hope you find a few more that you enjoy. I’m proud of you for wanting to try new things. Let us know if you try anything and how it turns out.

@bkcunningham I haven’t yet tried the black bean butternut squash chili, but guess what? I have 2 butternut squashes and some black beans! Maybe I’ll give it a try today!

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I’ll be going through them all to see what I am interested in trying.
What about simple ways to deal with my texture issue – will a processor chop onions to the point where I won’t bite into one and notice? Any other little techniques like that?

@livelaughlove21 To get your onions small enough so that you can’t notice them, you may need to put a little bit of liquid in your food processor or blender. If you just try to process them, by themselves, the pieces, although teeny tiny, might still be noticeable, but in the blender salsa recipe I posted above, there is enough liquid in the recipe to knock down the tomatoes and the onions. Also, if you Roast Vegetables and then throw them into the blender with some broth of your choice, you can make all sorts of soups, but the veggies will be nice and smooth and liquidy.

But you really should experiment more with unfamiliar or unpleasant textures. There is a whole huge delicious world full of food, but if you limit yourself, by simply blending everything into a fare thee well, then you will never be able to change the way you eat, or the way you perceive food. Like @JLeslie said about her husband. He was convinced that he didn’t like carrots, because he had them boiled into oblivion and had never eaten them any other way.

Try some of these different preps:

Mustard and Ginger Pickled Carrots

Carrot and Sweet Potato Soup with Coconut Milk

Crispy Carrot Oven Fries

Spiralized Carrot and Beet Salad with Honey Lime Peanut Dressing

Roasted Carrot Hummus

Lebanese Stuffed Carrots

Vegetable Pot Pie with Carrots, Lentils, Mushrooms and Potatoes

Tempura with Carrots, Shrimp and other Vegetables

Corndog-inspired Battered Carrots and Broccoli on a Stick

Beer Battered Carrots and Zucchini

Carrot Juice

Candied Roasted Carrots

Moroccan Carrot Salad

Carrot and Dried Cranberry Slaw

Slow Cooker Beef Stew with Guiness Stout and Root Vegetables

Grilled Glazed Carrots

Carrot and Tomato Marinara Sauce

Pasta Primavera with Prosciutto, Asparagus and Carrots

Smoked Haddock with Curried Carrot Sauce

Chicken with Ginger Carrot Sauce

Carrot Pasta Sauce

Carrot Ginger Pasta Sauce

Carrot Ginger Salad Dressing

Carrot Cake

Raw Carrot Cake Truffles

Carrot Kofta

@kardamom Dude!