Well, when it comes to the senses, if seeing is believing, then not tasting is believing. The idea of this cookbook is to hide vegetables in the foods kids, and adults, love. And, the beauty of this idea, is that you can give your kids the nutritional benefits of vegetables with out the fuss and fight of getting them to eat their veggies. They literally have no idea... or at least, they won't with the recipes I have tried so far!
Unfortunately, not every meal I cook incorporates the ideas of this cookbook. I am working toward this goal, but this is definitely a lifestyle change. It is a trial and error process, and I don't want my family to starve due to too many of my errors!
Yesterday, I tried my third recipe from the book... Mashed Potatoes with cauliflower. The book lists a recipe for the potatoes, but I decided not to follow it. I have my own recipe - I use that term loosely to describe my own cooking. I don't need to look up and follow a recipe for it. And, that is what works better for me.
So, I began my mashed potatoes as always... boil potatoes, drain water, mix in milk, butter, salt and pepper to achieve consistency and taste. Once I was sure that they were just right, I mixed in 1/2 cup of cauliflower puree... steam cauliflower and puree in food processor until smooth.
After making sure the puree was mixed in well, I tried them again. There was no difference in taste! They tasted just as good as before the new ingredient was added. And, the best part is how good cauliflower is for you! It has lost of vitamin C and other compounds that may help fight cancer! Isn't that cool? Read more about the health benefits of cauliflower here.
However, because my husband and I think that mashed potatoes, and just about everything else, must have garlic in them, I added the garlic that I had drizzled with olive oil and roasted. This last little step really make them fabulous. And, not only does it enable you to add more of the cauliflower puree because it hides the flavor so well, but it also offers benefits of its own!
Score two for me!
I have always heard about the good things that garlic can do, but have never really given it much thought. I just really, really like garlic. But, this Deceptively Delicious journey has encouraged me to find out more about food... what's good about it, the best way to prepare and present it to my family, etc. So, if you want to read more about garlic, and how good for you it is, click right here!
Finally, though, I served dinner to my family... roast with carrots, onions, and celery (this is a new thing I added. It went over great!), and my side of mashed potatoes with cauliflower. Chuck literally could not tell a difference in the potatoes. When I told him that I had tried a new recipe with our supper, he thought I was talking about the roast.
I asked if he could identify the hidden vegetable, and he tasted again, really trying to taste the vegetable. He wasn't able to identify it. Even after I told him about the cauliflower, he tried again and couldn't taste it.
Then, the biggest surprise, he admitted that he really doesn't like cauliflower. So, this really proved that this recipe can work for even the pickiest eaters!
So, what's next? I am thinking either peanut butter and jelly muffins with carrot puree or chocolate chip cookies with chickpea puree. I have the best of intentions to try one of these recipes this weekend. So, check back to see how it turns out!
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