Eat Your Greens

These three words – “Eat your greens” – evoke strong memories at our house, especially when our son and daughter are sitting around the dinner table.  While attending elementary school in London, they heard these words constantly at lunchtime.  The dinner ladies, as the female cafeteria staff were called, would not allow children to leave the table until their plates were clean.  Usually that meant choking down some mysterious green sludge.

As parents, we were happy to know our kids were eating balanced meals that we didn’t have to prepare.  Only later did we realize that greens had become the enemy.  These days we often have impromptu skits when cooked spinach, kale, chard, beet greens or mustard greens appear as side dishes.  Luckily leafy salads don’t prompt anyone to chant “Eat your greens,” but our son did buy his sister a dinner lady action figure a few years ago.

How can I overcome this knock on foods that I like to eat?
If Bart and I are dining alone, I will not hesitate to serve some quick-cooked spinach as part of the meal.  But if the kids are there, I have found two easy ways to serve cooked greens without anyone complaining: in soups and in a tray of roasted vegetables.  In both cases the greens shrink and meld with the rest of the ingredients.  Everyone wins. 

Easy Roasted Vegetables – serves 4 

2 tablespoons olive or canola oil + more if necessary
5 or 6 vegetables from the following list:
8 small whole mushrooms, washed and stems slightly trimmed
4 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch circles or 8 baby carrots cut in half
Several handfuls fresh spinach or 2 stalks kale, stems removed and leaves cut into
        small pieces
2 medium zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch circles
1 or 2 ears corn, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 or 2 large red, orange or yellow bell peppers
1 large onion, cut into quarters and slices separated
1 baby bok choy, leaves cut in half
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 

Pour 1 tablespoon olive or canola oil into a large roasting pan or sheet pan.  Add prepared vegetables, sprinkle with salt and pepper and then drizzle 1 tablespoon oil (or more, if preferred) on top of the vegetables.  Shake the pan so that the vegetables have a slight coat of oil. 

Bake the vegetables for about 30 minutes, turning them once with a metal spatula at the 15-minute mark.  By the end of roasting, the spinach or kale will have shrunk and be barely noticeable.

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