Further Adventures in Hiding Greens

It is Wednesday and I am growing a little anxious about the amount of vegetables still lurking in the fridge.

We had some how gotten through the amazing array last week.  I mean really, they look like a lot cause they're leafy.  Today I took seven leaves of chard, which took a half on one shoe box.  Holding the end of the stem with one hand, I placed my fingers at the base of the leaf and simply "slipped" it off the stem.  I then chopped them in the blender.  The leaves shrunk down to one and a half cup.  One of the biggest vegetable haters in the house agreed wholeheartedly to toss them into  her chili.  Her head knows, but her mouth is still trying to catch  up.

Chili s a lovely place to hide vegetables.  You can go as far as cooking up all sorts of vegetables and blending them into the tomato sauce.  For those of you who have vegetable detectors in your household, make sure the ratio of tomato sauce is high enough to still be red.  Throw a beet in if concerned and it will pretty much balance out anything green. 

The other reason hiding vegetables works well in chili, and spaghetti, is because of the high spice content: garlic, chili pepper, oregano, basil, etc.  Most CSA's have u-pick herb gardens.  Just note that those vegetable detectors may also be "I spy a leafy piece of something" type folks.  Chop those herbs into minuscule pieces.  This also releases the natural oils and lends more of the flavor to the dish.

Last night those of us who love vegetable were happy to cook the small summer squash in the iron skillet with olive oil and garlic.  I then had a little pasta with my sauce and vegetables.  This meal of course is another perfect place for a green salad, as is frozen pizza night.  Somehow hoping the "prepared" pizza and organic vegetables will balance each other out, I put out a salad or plate of veggies first.  I am still working on  dips or dressing to replace the Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing (what seems like a necessary evil to get down raw veggies for some people.)  Newman's Own Ranch past the taste test for my son, but my other son's girlfriend remains unmoved. 

Making these changes sometimes mean choosing between being right or being happy.