There are a whole host of fun and interesting and delicious ways to entice kids into eating veg. Like, perhaps roasting or grilling them to draw out some of their natural sweetness. Or, if you prefer to trick your children, cut up some veggies and hide them in tomato sauce. Or, rest on the whimsical laurels of a carrot steak a la Dan Barber. Perhaps we’ve been entranced by Andrew Zimmern for too long, but we’re pretty much of the opinion that dumbing down food to fit “kid palates” is just plain dumb. Kids like flavors. We promise. Everywhere else in the world, kids eat plenty of vegetables that aren’t potato-based and fried, so we’re pretty sure American kids can strap on their big kid pants and try some “grownup food.” Of course, there’s also the tried and true Deen Family Method: smother cold, raw, unseasoned vegetables with Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing to get kids to “eat healthy.”
Because ranch dressing out of a bottle = totally healthy. We guarantee you that any kid putting enough ranch on a raw cauliflower floret to make it taste good is exceeding the 2-tablespoon serving size recommendation. Guaranteed. But let’s assume that vegetables which have been sitting pre-cut and covered in plastic in your grocer’s fridge for god knows how long aren’t inherently gross. Why aren’t we hawking like, hummus as a dipping option? You know, with all its healthy non-animal legume proteins? No? We give up.
Check out the health benefits of Hidden Valley Ranch, as presented by Jamie Deen on The Talk’s Superbowl special, below.
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