I have a 4yr old and I make it a point to make vegetables the front and center of whatever we are eating so I most definitely do NOT hide. If she doesn't like something, then she just pushes it aside but I do encourage her to at least try what is on her plate for a "no thank you" taste. We eat the same meal every night with some minor modifications if something is deemed to be too spicy for her palate. If there is anything I have to hide it is black pepper-she's got an eagle eye for seeing those little cracked morsels in any dish.

I now pride myself on hiding my vegis. I never thought I'd be THAT mom, but I am. Mac and cheese has kale and spinach in it, quinoa patties with all kinds of green vegis, pizzas with kale sauce, etc. The adults in our house actually like all those green vegis, but we can all use the boost of kale!

My favorites are: quinoa cakes: http://www.twobedroomsandababy.com/2011/10/quinoa-cakes-and-how-to-hide-vegis-in.html

Mac and Cheese: http://www.twobedroomsandababy.com/2011/08/crockpot-macaroni-and-cheese-with.html

Pizza: http://www.twobedroomsandababy.com/2011/09/hiding-vegis-in-pizza.html

If you are including the veggies to add dimension to a sauce, then fine. If you are adding them to trick the recipient into eating them without their knowledge...no. My mother-in-law did this to my husband and he has to be the pickiest person I know. She would literally pulverize an onion till it was a pile of watery sludge, then add it to the dish. I will never do this to my kids. The veggies are in plain sight. They can see what everything is and are encouraged to try and appreciate different foods. Sorry--I have no patience for this stuff.

I've never quite understood the need for vegetable hiding - or the fact that some people hate 'vegetables', to be honest (one or two, I can understand, but not the entire deliciously diverse category). But my parents, although they'd ceased to be vegetarian by the time I came along, still had a veggie-centric diet, so vegetables weren't a side dish that could be ignored in favour of other foods, or something that could be hidden; they were just what we ate. Hopefully this approach will work as well when it's my turn!

I don't see anything wrong with adding vegetables to dishes and not telling picky kids as long as there are still vegetables on the plate that are visible. Kids should get used to seeing vegetables as part of their meals: if they're only hidden, they may learn to believe that a meal doesn't need vegetables to be complete. This won't help them when they grow up and start cooking for themselves. Hiding works as a backup plan to ensure kids are getting some (or extra!) vegetables even if they're picky about a veggie side dish or to slowly get them used to new flavors

Ok, wow, people. None of you must have a truly picky eater to deal with. I'm only 10 months into this and my kid has had to be tricked and cajoled into every calorie I've put in her body since birth. (yes, even mother's milk.) If I find a food she likes, and can think of a way to sneak some extra veggies into it and have her still eat it, I will do it, no guilt. I also offer a wide, wide variety of veggies on their own, but I feel better knowing that turkey meatball she's eating has some roughage in it. I swore I'd never do this but it's about my peace of mind at this point.

rosebud, my parents had to hide the pepper too for pretty much I whole childhood. I've only recently started using it in *some* recipes that call for it.

I am NOT a vegetable hider. If I'm having vegetables, I want it to be because I appreciate the tast and texture they bring to the dish (or by themselves), not to sneak them in. The dish linked to, for example, sounds delicious, but I would think of it as swiss chard based, not just tomato sauce and eggs. And like teriqata, I don't really understand people who claim not to like vegetables in general.

i don't hide the veggies because i don't like them (no kiddos or husbands to try to fool in my house), i hide them so i can get more nutrients or fiber in a dish that typically doesn't have that particular veggie.

smoothies is the best example. i like spinach, but i don't want to eat a spinach smoothie. so, if i have some spinach, i throw some in my smoothies so i can get the nutrients, since it doesn't have a strong taste (or any taste in a smoothie).

My son is weird about textural food - anything soft or smushy that he might equate to baby food (mashed potatoes, yellow squash, casserole vegetables) are a no-go. But instead of hiding the vegetables, I just changed how I cook them. We do a lot of roasting of vegetables these days and that seems to go over well.

I absolutely do, especially in sauce, but not to "hide" them or be sneaky in any way. I do it for three reasons: first, because it definitely builds amazing flavor, as Lam suggests, second, because it adds extra bulk and nutrition to stretch our food dollar, and third (maybe most importantly) because sometimes I just need to figure out how to use my veggies up. Ever since our first CSA subscription, I've had to find lots of creative ways to "get rid" of my veg stockpile before next week's delivery (or before they go bad). This is also why every Monday in my house has become a stir fry extravaganza. Ever put beets in a stir fry? Join a CSA and you just might.

I'm not sure "hiding" them in a tomato sauce, mac and cheese, or whatever is actually going to prevent kids from growing up liking vegetables. It actually seems like a great way to add variety! If I had grown up with more "hidden" vegetables rather than mostly ones cooked as plain, separate sides, honestly, it probably wouldn't have taken me until college to start eating them voluntarily. Sometimes things taste better in combination with other things, or with sauces, even if that makes them less "healthy". (As an adult, I STILL hate eating a side of broccoli on its own, but I have no complaints if it's in pasta, on pizza, or in a soup or curry.)

Also, hiding vegetables in meatloaf sounds like a pretty excellent idea, as a way to add some more nutrition to what's generally not a dish that's going to suffer too much from a little tinkering. Same goes for well-cooked cauliflower in a pasta bake or carrots in tomato sauce.

What a timely post. I made meatloaf last night just the way my mom used to make it when I was a kid. Broccoli on the side and broccoli stem ground up and put in the meatloaf. She did it to sneak in a little extra veggie but also to stretch her food dollar by adding more to the beef and not wasting broccoli stem which my sister and I would not eat otherwise.

Now I can't imagine having meatloaf without broccoli on the side and in. Otherwise it would be too dense and missing something.

My boyfriend, who never liked meatloaf, loves it this way. I would like to think that I would teach our future hypothetical children to love veggies and not need to hide them, but if I do, I will have lots of tips from my mom to hide the veg.

I hide cauliflower puree in mashed potatoes and carrot puree in lots of my tomato based sauces and in taco meat. These are the only two I've tried, but would like to do more. Not only because it ensures that my kids are getting a little bit more nutrients (I also put whole veggies ON the plate that they are required to eat at least 4 bites of) but also because it adds a richness to the taste of what I'm making but doesn't scream CARROTS or CAULIFLOWER! Sauces are smoother, thicker, and just tastier with the added puree!

I definitely do this. My partner eats WAY too much junk food, so when he does eat at home, I'm always trying to maximize the nutrition he gets. My favorite trick is to make meatballs with super-lean beef and replace part of the meat with finely chopped mushrooms--better nutrition, fewer calories, more moisture in the meat, and cheaper. He loves Shepherd's Pie, so I top it with Colcannon or half mashed potato/half mashed cauliflower rather than the usual spuds.

I probably sound like a protective mother hen about this, but he's already survived a stroke and I worry about him.

I wish my mom had slipped veggies into interesting places. i was not a picky eater, but my formative years were spent eating boiled carrots (plain) or boiled cauliflower (again, PLAIN) on the side. I couldn't stand either of those vegetables until after high school. What I wouldn't have given for some spinach in the tomato sauce!

And to defend my mother, she is an excellent cook. I just think she was really tired for a few years while my sister and I were at our most rambunctious.

I have three kids, I raised them all with loads of food choices and put fresh veggies in front of them all the time. I had them help in the kitchen and pick stuff in the garden... blah blah blah.

I have one that will eat everything, one that will eat 'nothing' and one that is in the middle.

I am a firm believer that personality plays a huge role in how adventuresome you will be as an eater.

So, moms & dads out there, don't feel guilty. Keep trying to offer healthy things. But if it works for you to hide the veggies, then do it. If it works for you not to hide the veggies, then don't!

I've always said that when it comes to parenting you should focus less on whether you are doing it the 'right way' or the 'wrong way' and focus more on 'what works'.

I have to hide them for my dad. But then, I have to trick him into EVERYTHING, as he constantly reminds me that when I'm 59, I'll like what I like, too. Sigh. So when it's my turn to cook, I do a lot of creamy casseroles (basically adaptations of my mother's recipes) and a metric ton of pureed soups. My current favorite is split pea, which allows me to sneak in some tomato, dark greens, carrots, and sweet potatoes - which he doesn't eat, otherwise.

Oh, and I don't have kids of my own yet, but if I ever do, I will absolutely hide veggies if I need to - let them "win" a battle and still make sure they're healthy? Yes, please.

I fill my recipes with veggies which are diced, sliced, grated or peeled in a variety of ways. They make the meals go further and pack in some more punch. I don't really get the whole notion of pureeing vegetables to deliberately hide them unless that's the texture you want for the dish.