Please help with hiding veg!

[TaraR2020]

I have a much loved relative in poor health. They have spent many years caring their father who favoured post-war style cooking.

As a result, my much loved relative has a poor diet. Their depression, which is pretty bad, means they're inclined to comfort and processed foods. They have little inclination to cook and prepare meals.

So, my cousin and I have teamed up to stock up their freezer with healthy meals that not only will they eat and enjoy, but also won't be suspicious of!

We're trying to come up with meals we can batch cook and hide lots of nutrition in :)

My lovely relative dislikes pretty much all veg except potato, carrots and peas.

So I'm hoping to pick your brains for your best /hidden/ veg recipes please?

They enjoy fruit and pulses. Tomatoes always go down well. They're like mild spice only.

Don't think they like mushrooms as never seen them eat one

Can you please help with sneaky veg recipes for picky eaters? 🙏

Lasagne?

I used to cook cauliflour and mash into the potato on top of cottage pie. Also used to grate carrot into the mince. Kids were fussy!

I currently make chicken pie and add a leek, peas & sweetcorn. You could easily add some other finely chopped veg. Smothered in a cheese or creamy mustard sauce it will all taste fine.

Cheesey broccoli always went down well as a side dish.

Fruit crumble for dessert?

You can hide puréed cauliflower in cheese sauce.

Home made soup? Carrot & coriander, leak & potato, chicken & vegetable. Get in some part baked rolls to go with it.

Tomato sauces for pasta & meat dishes can have celery, carrot, onion, peppers, leeks either grated in or blended and no one would ever know!

Shepherd's pie with veg chopped up small (ideally with food processor)
Mashed swede/sweet potato/white potato on top.
Tasty!
Jamie Oliver has a really good recipe for it online if you search
Really nice thing to do

Macaroni cheese (or other pasta bake) with cauliflower or butternut squash blended into the sauce?

Mashed potato with other veg mashed in - broccoli, cabbage, carrots etc.

Pasta sauce is great for hiding vegetables in (My kids thought the chopped spinach in the bolognaise was a herb for years and years). Carrots hide well in anything tomato based.

It’s not hiding veg but using the ones they like- good Cornish pasties.

Parsnip soup lightly curried! Wonderful with some nice bread. Any vegetable in a soup really, you could add in a few red lentils for fibre and to thicken

Fish pie you can put peas, sweetcorn and spinach in.
For mildly spicy make a creamy indian or thai chicken curry with finely diced sweet potato, butternut squash and red pepper (they pretty much disappear but thicken the sauce).

Onions in cheese and potato pie. Tastes better as well

I finely chop carrot, courgette, squash, sweet potato and mushrooms in my lasagne sauce or in cottage pie. Also make lentil & bacon casserole with carrots, onions, potato, squash and sweet potato in it.

blending and grating is key!!
Courgettes grate lovely into things.
Peas and cauliflower puree really well and can be mixed into sauces or mashed potato.

I have a DS with a range of sensory issues and difficult eating issues. I find that I can hide things like grated courgettes into pasta sauces as long as I peel the courgette first so there is no hint of green in it to alert him. I also very frequently use about 25% of red lentils into a bolognese or shepherds pie, but need to blitz it into a mush. It's hard getting the ratios right, trial and error.

But, if the like really traditional plain foods, would they accept something like bread and butetr pudding sprinkled with powdered chocolatel, but swap half the chocolate for chocolate complan? I make a choc milkshake for DS that uses a good solid tablespoon of complan in with the drinking chocolate for the addess nutrients.

Thank you, these are brilliant!

If they like sweet veg you could probably make soups or mash with sweet potato, butternut squash in, maybe a little parsnip? Dahl with red lentils is very unchallenging, has a nice smooth consistency.

Chocolate complan is next level devious @3greenpullups - I'm impressed!

I make pasta sauce with all sorts of veg in (usually peppers, courgettes, aubergine, carrots, garlic and cooked down with passatta) i whizz it in the processor and use it for pasta and as a pizza base. I freeze it in small plastic pots for one portion.

Cottage pie I make with finely chopped carrots, onions, mushrooms etc (anything goes if it's chopped small) and mix some cauliflower in with the mash topping.

Lasagne and bolognese sauce can be made with tons of added veg (and the sauce is easy to portion up and freeze)

I'm definitely going to try some soup recipes from ideas you've all put here and might start adding some grated veg into my own food for a boost - you're all so helpful, I love veg so don't bother trying to disguise it in my own cooking

Craving curried parsnip and Butternut squash soups now

Mash potato with carrot or swede mashed in, is quite tasty.

I have a kenwood mini chopper so use it for onion carrot etc to mix in with mince and make cottage pie or meatballs or bolognese, it chops or blends and it’s a handy wee thing I originally bought to make breadcrumbs. Does garlic tiny too, makes my meatballs yummy - also add mushrooms/celery if kids aren’t having as they didn’t like it stuck to carrot onion and courgette.

Need to try some of these with peas and cauliflower, your little chopper is really good for small bits/or blended veg it’s not big (was £20) so handy for smaller portions or if you’re trying something out

You could make some nice snacks/ desserts too.
Banana bread, apple cake, crumbles with oats and nuts in the topping. You could add ground flax seeds to all of these which is good for fibre and I think possibly omega 3 too.

I would fry up veg like onions, peppers, carrots etc and the. Wiz them up with tinned tomato and add them to any tomato based dish like spag bol, chilli. Pasta dish or lasagne when the kids were little to get more veg in them. This might help?

Red peppers are really sweet so adding one of them to a pasta sauce can offset any bitterness that they may otherwise notice from all the puréed and grated greens you are going to pack in there!

Tomato soup is full of antioxidants and so good for you. Sweat an onion and a small potato in a little butter or oil (you don't need much), add a tin of tomatoes, one tsp of dried basil, a pinch of sugar and one of salt. Blitz once the potato is completely soft (to completely smooth gives you one of your 5a day, or medium chunky you can count it as two of your 5 a day. ). Add a little water or stock if it's too thick. You'll never buy tinned again.

To make a Heinz like tomato soup use a recipe that has pickled onions and carrots in there. No idea why, but it works!