Monday, March 5, 2012

Hiding Veggies in Baked Goods

Expectation: Kids don't mind veggies in their cookies.

I love putting vegetables into baked goods. Zucchini and pumpkin turn a dry bread into a moist bread, with no additional butter or oil needed (in fact, you need less), providing nutrients to a typically empty-calorie treat. Black beans give an otherwise unattainable, fudgy texture to brownies, while creating a protein-dense goodie that will keep you satisfied much longer than it's white-flour counterpart.

Zucchini Bread
Tonight, I read this article from NPR, which states that "nutritionists generally hate the idea of 'stealth veggies,' arguing that children should learn to eat their vegetables and like them, darn it. They got really bent out of shape after reading The Sneaky Chef by Missy Chase Lepine, and Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld, both of which argued for sneaking veggies into kid-friendly foods."


I consider myself somewhat of a nutritionist wannabe. I've considered going back to school to become one several times in my life, and nutrition is a topic I regularly read about for fun. Hearing that "nutritionists hate the idea of steal veggies" just seems plain silly. It's like saying that kids should stay quiet in the classroom because they should WANT to learn.


Beet Walnut Goat Cheese Muffins
Although I haven't read "The Sneaky Chef", and I've only skimmed Jessica Seinfeld's book, I'm pretty sure they aren't saying, "instead of feeding your children vegetables with dinner, hide them inside cake!" The point here is that we all need to eat vegetables, and lots of them. As Michael Pollan says; "eat food, not too much, mostly plants." Even the USDA knows that Americans need to eat more vegetables. I try to eat vegetables with every meal, and I snack on carrots, sugar snap peas and jicama in between those meals. Adding parsnips to my muffins is a way to get vegetables in my breakfast, while giving them a moist texture and lowering the carbohydrate content by replacing some of the flour. 


Pumpkin Swirl Brownies
Moms love to bake for their kids. They are the reason why most of us have a sweet tooth, and the reason the scent of a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie brings us back to our childhood home. Although many nutritionists would rather we didn't bake sweet treats at all, adding vegetables to baked goods is a way to make these treats healthier (using whole grains and less sugar is another way). It's a way for moms to help their children enjoy vegetables, and perhaps even help them be more receptive to them when meal time comes around ("you love beet cupcakes, so try some beet salad!")


Can we please get past they "kids should love vegetables" argument, and agree to embrace veggies in every form?