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Spinach and other deceptions
By Ann | November 26, 2007
I’ve never been a picky eater. Even as a kid, I remember loving things like tomatoes and avocados, even broccoli. But I do believe in eating a variety of vegetables, and, as I mentioned in an earlier post, trying to limit the saturated fat and salt in my diet. Which is why Jessica Seinfeld’s Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food appealed to me.
For various reasons of celebrity (she’s married to that Seinfeld) and scandal (an accusation of plagiarism), this book has gotten a lot of media attention. The basic premise of deception — suggestions on how to trick your kids into eating veggies by hiding them in ordinary foods — has also provoked criticism from parents. But picky eating isn’t limited to kids — what about hiding vegetables from adults?
To that end, I whipped up a batch of Deceptively Delicious brownies, which featured two secret ingredients: pureed carrots and spinach. I presented them to a group of tasters on Thanksgiving morning, traditionally a day of indulgence (of course, we did eat them for breakfast). No one pinpointed the seceret ingredients — guesses included malt, black pepper and applesauce — though some were able to discern that the brownies were sans butter and egg yolks. Tasters age 16+ had a generally positive response but the best reaction came from one taster, age 3, who offered the comment: “It’s chocolate. That’s my chocolate. When I eat it, it goes in my tummy.” She then proceeded to swipe a brownie whenever they came into her path. It appears Jessica Seinfeld really knows her audience.
Score:
Tasters: 10
Deceived: 10
Topics: Cooking the Books |
One Response to “Spinach and other deceptions”
Comments
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December 1st, 2007 at 6:47 am
Thanks for this, I am now utterly intrigued by the idea of putting vegetables into sweet desserts. This is one food experiment I’ll have to try sometime! (This reminds me, I have a cake recipe somewhere that passes off chayote as pears…)