SHHH! There’s A Veggie In My Dish!
Mum’s the word! If you’re a parent then you are aware of the constant battle between children and vegetables. The kids simply don’t want to eat their leafy greens, which are full of everything that they need to grow into healthy and thriving little beings. But DO NOT FEAR, veggie mom is here! I have tons of ways to get our kiddos eating “plant food” without them even realizing it. I’ll be sharing some awesome recipes over the next few weeks, but let’s start with one of my favorite hits:
Cauliflower And Chicken Spaghetti
Not only is this dish full of cauliflower, which is rich in vitamin c and vitamin k, but it also removes the sticky flour-filled white sauce that we usually use when making cheesy or “creamy” pastas. In this recipe the cauliflower is used as a natural thickener, to get our pasta sauce to that perfect consistency…yurrrm yurrrm!
* Before I proceed to share the ingredients and instructions, you could also add other blended vegetables to the mix here, like broccoli for instance; your meal will still taste great, and the greenery would make the dish looks slightly more colourful (I was just out of broccoli at the time).
Here’s what you’ll need to make this “trick your kids” meal:
- A punnet of cauliflower, green leaves removed.
- 250 ml whipping cream
- 1 cup of grated cheddar cheese
- Salt to taste
- Pepper
- Chicken pieces (or any other meat option, or omit the meat for a vegetarian meal)
- One tsp crushed garlic
- Coconut oil for frying
- Spaghetti (we used whole-wheat spaghetti for a healthier option)
* If you would like to make this a gluten free dish, you can leave out the pasta and miss the sauce with rice, or meat only.
Instructions:
- Fry your chicken pieces in coconut oil and crushed garlic. Add some salt to taste.
- At the same time, steam your cauliflower until soft.
- Blend the cauliflower until it’s a smooth puree. You might want to add a tad bit of the cream so that it blends easily.
- Bring the pureed cauliflower, cream and cheese to the boil. Boil until all the cheese has melted, and then remove from the stove top. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Mix the cauli-cheese sauce, chicken pieces and cooked spaghetti together.
- Serve with sprinkled grated cheese on top.
My kiddo thoroughly enjoys his cauli-cheese spaghetti and always manages to polish off a good portion. He has no clue (yet) that he is eating “yucky” cauliflower. In fact, you can use the cauli-cheese sauce as a healthy addition to many meals, including mac and cheese, a steak sauce, chip dip, you name it!
And it’s not just a delicious dish for kids! Adults can enjoy this tasty veggie-filled meal too!
P.S. This post was inspired by @jaynie, the creator of #steemitbloggers and the #whatscookingchallenge. If you often find yourself conjuring up a storm in the kitchen, you can enter the challenge too. In fact, I challenge and nominate @what-did-she-say @thepink @onetree @dansum86 and @silverwhale to get cooking and enter the #whatscookingchallenge.
Cauliflower is starting to grow on me. It is so versatile. We recently tried some Cauliflower Rice which was surprisingly good. And don't forget that you can use Cauliflower as a pizza base!
I lurrrv Cauli-rice! And I have mad a cauli-pizza base before, it's just so much work! Delicious though!
I love this kind of food, and I love cauliflower! I'm fortunate that my son always loved veggies, and still does at 26. I think you should edit the title to Cauliflower and chicken spaghetti :) . Also for gluten free option you can buy gluten free pasta, it's expensive here in SA ... I buy it for my son's girlfriend. Thanks for this yummy recipe!
Awe, thanks for the heads up, appreciate it! We had Broccoli this evening, so it's on my brain :)
Thank you for sharing this! There are a few vegetables that my son will still eat, but the number is decreasing rapidly as he grows!! This week we lost green beans and cucumbers (which he used to love)!
Ah kids really do go through stages, it's so hard to keep up with them! My son used to hate cucumber, now ut's all he wants to eat, lol.
indeed a yum yum that is lol !
My two kids are so different. The one we must force to eat meat and the other one veggies.
Love this. Just might work to get some veggies into my daughters body.
Oh my gosh, I suppose having more than one kid really makes meal planning a hassle, and often a swing and a miss. It's so difficult keeping all the family members happy, healthy and fed!
I love cauliflower but never ever thought of using it this way.
Will give it a try one of these days. Thanks for sharing @sweetpea!
Awesome, I hope you enjoy your meal!
I'm sure I will!