Deceptively Delicious

I will be the first to admit I was swayed by, first, the celebrity linked to this cookbook, having seen her on Oprah and the Today show, and second, by the charming marketing and presentation of the book itself. So, after watching Jessica Seinfeld on Oprah I immediately ordered from Amazon.com 3 copies of this book for myself and two sisters. And so it sat, looking darling on my counter. I finally cracked it open this week. See, my kids actually LIKE to eat veggies. They ask for Broccoli and force feed vegetables down their daddy's mouth! So, I have never felt a need to hide or sneak healthy stuff - it is just a part of what we eat normally, along with the occasional corn dogs and Lucky Charms. (We ARE human, after all - I am not an organic croc-wearing only shops at 'Whole Foods" type. ) Tonight we decided to try the chicken nuggets. My kids had seen the Oprah episode with me and were anxious to taste what I made. Long story short, they liked it and cleaned their plate. But, I could have made my standard Italian Parmesan chicken in nugget form with a side of broccoli and they would have eaten that too. Next time I do this though, I will bake them. I bake my other chicken recipe and it comes out just fine. I am not a big pan fryer and I found they browned too quickly and the breading fell off not to mention they were kind of soggy. BUT they tasted good.

The gist of the recipe is this: the bite size chicken is coated in 1 c. pureed vegetables with 1 beaten egg. (Cauliflower, broccoli, beets, etc - it gives several choices.) I used 1 c pureed blend of broccoli and cauliflower I had from a frozen blend in the freezer. The crumb mixture is 1 c. whole wheat bread crumbs (I always make my own and keep them in the freezer) 1/2 c. flax seed meal, grated Parmesan and various seasonings.

So, they tasted good but looked terrible, not like the picture in the book! But the kids didn't even ask to dip it in ranch - the vegetable puree was flavorful without tasting like it was a vegetable puree. It really was good!

I will try more recipes and report back. My kids are anxious for me to try the brownies with spinach. There are several muffins I want to try.