So, two books have recently come out that are causing quite the talk around the food sections of newspapers and blogs across the internet. Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld and The Sneaky Chef by Missy Chase Lapine. Basically all about hiding “good” food in the kids meals to get them to eat better.

The big question seems to be – does it really benefit your kids down the road if you’re hiding the veggies now? In my mind – no.

I’m not talking about when they’re itty-bitty and everything is pureed and the delivery system is a spoon making airplane noises. Besides, it’s not really disguising it if they have no idea what is actually on said spoon. But when they’re old enough to start identifying things (which isn’t really that old), I just don’t see any good reason for hiding or disguising things.

I don’t remember my mother ever hiding vegetables or other healthy foods from us. She wasn’t a gourmet chef and certainly wasn’t presenting up anything particularly exotic, but we knew that veggies were part of the deal when it came to dinner. She did make compromises, knowing that some veggies were better than none. When she would put together the salads, she’d skip the cherry tomatoes in mine. (I just didn’t acquire the love of tomatoes that the rest of my family had!) Hers and Dad’s would have extra onions and mushrooms and things. But hey, we still got our lettuce at least – and she didn’t have to disguise it. Sweet corn, lima beans, green beans, and peas were regulars at the dinner table. A little butter and salt and pepper and we ate them. I don’t know if I would ever have been excited at asparagus season coming about if it had all been pureed and hidden in other foods.

The only big arguments came with cooked cauliflower in cheese sauce and cooked broccoli. The smell was horrific and we had the rule of “at least ONE bite must be taken” – well, lets just say it did NOT go well and cooked cauliflower was not presented again.

Raw veggies were usually about as well. Carrots and celery and a little salad dressing – we knew exactly what we were eating, ate it voluntarily and no one had to hide it from us. Over the years I’ve also developed a liking for raw broccoli and cauliflower. (Just don’t cook it, please!) Fresh sliced cucumbers with just a touch of salt on them.

If all these vegetables had been hidden from us, my brother & I would have even worse eating habits than we do now. (We try, but we’re not perfect.) If you’ve never had vegetables prepared on their own as a kid, then why would it ever occur to you to prepare them as their own dish when you grow up? When I got out on my own and stumbled on fresh green beans at the market, I grabbed a big handful and took them home and figured out how to cook them – and they were great and even better than anything Mom had made. (Not her fault, frozen veggies were the norm, finding fresh always seemed to be difficult.) I will make up lima beans and eat them as dinner on some occasions. I regularly make up salads for lunch.

I don’t have kids, and I don’t know if I ever will. However, I just don’t see myself trying to hide butternut squash in macaroni and cheese. Sure, I’ll probably figure out what the little ones favor in the veggie department and that will probably be presented more often. I’ll try and avoid cooking methods and presentations that aren’t appealing. (Peas and cooked carrots come to mind – I don’t know who came up with the combination, but I’ve never understood the popularity.)

Show some respect for the veggies and let them shine on their own! The kids will be better off for it.

Found out about this one via DCist – the first annual Brainfood Grill Off!

It’s this Thursday, 6/28, and there are still tickets available. $75 for dinner, open bar and “entertainment” (which may be the kids setting the kitchens on fire, who knows.)

Brainfood is “a non-profit youth development organization based in Washington, DC. Brainfood has been a community presence in the Columbia Heights neighborhood for several years, and in the fall of 2007, a second Brainfood site was established in Chinatown. The Brainfood kitchen is a place where young people come to have creative, constructive fun. We believe that supervised, fun activities are a young person’s right, not a privilege, and we have found that most of our students do not have access to such opportunities.

In keeping with these beliefs, we have created after school and summer programs that allow kids to be kids, while also challenging them to develop new skills and raise self-expectations. Brainfood is a safe place for teens to try new things, make mistakes, and grow. We reach young people through a positive approach based on one of the oldest and most universal of human traditions: food. Through listening, reading, shopping, measuring, chopping, whisking, roasting, cooling, collaborating, presenting, eating, cleaning and volunteering, Brainfood students learn life skills and have fun.”

Well, damn, I am certainly down for that. Even got little bro hooked in for it. (Which makes me think that maybe the Swedish Meatballs tonight didn’t turn out as well as I thought it had.)