Vegetable Trickery with Jessica Seinfeld
To thank those who have visited this blog in its first week, I'm throwing in an extra recipe you might like to try this weekend, from the hotly-debated -- and hot-selling -- cookbook by the wife of Jerry Seinfeld.
There are two reasons this cookbook, called "Deceptively Delicious," is controversial. The first is that Seinfeld has been accused of plagiarizing from the lesser-known book "The Sneaky Chef," by a former publisher of Eating Well magazine.
The second is that lots of parents think it's wrong to hide vegetables and fruits from kids. They say deception just exacerbates the problem of children not getting enough exposure to the foods that are best for them.
As you might have gleaned from my Dinner Together experiment, I can see both sides of this. So I thought if I was going to be tricky, I'd try it out at breakfast, when the kids would be least likely to suspect hidden veggies.
Beet pancakes -- yum!
Actually, they weren't bad at all...
(Photo by me)
and my inquisitive daughter let me off easy. When she asked what made these pancakes red (I added a little more beet than Seinfeld, figuring I should get it in where I could), I just said I had added some different ingredients. Miraculously and uncharacteristically, I wasn't pressed further. I slipped in some whole-wheat flour for good measure.
Leah didn't really care for them, but Sam wolfed down several.
Please post below to let us know how my adaptation works out for you. And tell us how you feel about vegetable deception.
Pink Pancakes (With Beet)
Makes 16 to 18 small pancakes¶
2 beets
¾ cup water
½ cup ricotta cheese
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup whole-wheat flour
½ tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ½ tablespoons sugar
¼ cup grated apple
1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil, plus more as necessary for pan¶
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Remove greens from beets and trim roots to 1 inch. Wrap beets in foil and roast for 1 hour, until tender when pierced with a knife. Scrape peels off beets with a spoon and place in a food processor. Process about 2 minutes until beets are pureed, adding a little water if necessary. (Puree can be made ahead and refrigerated, or frozen and thawed.)
To the beet puree in the food processor, add the ¾ cup water, ricotta cheese, vanilla and cinnamon and blend. Dump the mixture into a medium bowl, add the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and apple, and stir until just combined. Do not overmix – the batter will be a little lumpy.
Coat a griddle or large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and set over medium-high heat. When hot, add the oil. Spoon the batter on to the griddle or skillet, using about ¼ cup for each pancake. Cook the pancakes until bubbles form on top and the batter is set, 1 to 2 minutes. Then flip and cook until golden brown on the other side, 2 to 3 minutes. Serve warm with syrup or fruit.¶
—Adapted from "Deceptively Delicious," by Jessica Seinfeld
Per pancake: 47 calories, 2 grams protein, 1 gram fat, trace saturated fat, 7 grams carbohydrate, 1 gram fiber, 2 milligrams cholesterol, 76 milligrams sodium. Analysis by registered dietitian Jodie Shield.
Comments
Who on earth would think to add beets to pancakes? I would think something like canned pumpkin would be a little more palatable. But that's just me....and I despise beets.
I noticed you've blogrolled me, and I'd love to know how you found my site (and also point out that you forgot the 'The" in my title.)
Thanks!
I'm forgetting now exactly where I found you -- I'm sure it was through one of the blog search engines -- but I'm glad I did. And I'll add your "The" right away.
Posted by: Kayris | February 22, 2008 2:05 PM
I sneak veggies into my kids food whenever I can. They don't reject much and eat fruits and veggies willingly everyday. But not quite as many as I'd like them to. That's why I sneak them into things. Broccoli is their absolute favorite which is weird but I am not complaining. But I add pureed carrots to spagetti sauce, any casserole with cheese or anything else that will hide the color of the carrots. You have to be careful with spinach because it turns the entire dish green....
Posted by: Christine | February 22, 2008 3:48 PM