Kids hate eating vegetables, right? I mean, that’s exactly what I believed for years. Here’s the scenario: Daughter: “Ugh. What’s that? But I don’t like potatoes. Do I have to eat it?” Me: “Stop talking, start eating. That will get it over with faster. Yes, you have to eat it. Yes, ALL of it! No, I won’t add more salt, sugar, or ketchup. Ugh.” Like many parents I know that veggies are healthier for my family, and I want to get my loved ones to eat them without adding a bunch of other junk, because that kind of defeats the purpose, am I wrong? I figure there HAS to be a better way.

As it turns out…there is! And the key, it seems, is fresh produce and home cooking. So, we signed up for a CSA program (community supported agriculture) and for our first week we got…wait for it…rutabagas! What the heck do I do with rutabagas? And more importantly, how do I sell my daughter on them? So, armed with my trusty Google search bar, I came up with a roasted rutabaga recipe (this one, to be exact) and set to with determination. And an oven mitt.

We’d never roasted vegetables before, so we didn’t really know what to expect. But, like any good, bluffing parent, I plastered on my “You are going to LOVE this!” face as I piled on piping hot, herb-crusted rutabagas. She was not amused. “What’s this? Roota-what? I don’t like them. Well, they look like something I wouldn’t like. How many do I have to eat?” I quickly replaced the “convincing” face with the “eat-it-or-I’m-finishing-off-the-chocolate-ice-cream-in-front-of-you” face. Grudgingly, she forked a root and dragged it up to her mouth as if she were fighting twice the force of Earth’s gravity to take a nibble. And…

It was a miracle! She loved it! She completely devoured over 1/3 of what we roasted in less than 5 minutes as we watched with our jaws on the floor. Turns out that roasting fresh vegetables (especially root vegetables like carrots and rutabagas) surfaces their natural sugars, often making them sweeter and bringing out new flavors that you just can’t get out of a can. I kid you not…now we fight about NOT having roasted veggies for dinner.

Stay tuned for more recipes and details on how to get your kid loving veggies in 6 months or less!