Mum’s the word! If you’re a parent then you are aware of the constant battle between children and vegetables. The kids simply don’t want to eat their leafy greens, which are full of everything that they need to grow into healthy and thriving little beings. But DO NOT FEAR, veggie mom is here! I have tons of ways to get our kiddos eating “plant food” without them even realizing it. I’ll be sharing some awesome recipes over the next few weeks, but let’s start with one of my favorite hits:

Cauliflower And Chicken Spaghetti

Not only is this dish full of cauliflower, which is rich in vitamin c and vitamin k, but it also removes the sticky flour-filled white sauce that we usually use when making cheesy or “creamy” pastas. In this recipe the cauliflower is used as a natural thickener, to get our pasta sauce to that perfect consistency…yurrrm yurrrm!

^{Any child's delight.}

* Before I proceed to share the ingredients and instructions, you could also add other blended vegetables to the mix here, like broccoli for instance; your meal will still taste great, and the greenery would make the dish looks slightly more colourful (I was just out of broccoli at the time).

Here’s what you’ll need to make this “trick your kids” meal:

A punnet of cauliflower, green leaves removed.
250 ml whipping cream
1 cup of grated cheddar cheese
Salt to taste
Pepper
Chicken pieces (or any other meat option, or omit the meat for a vegetarian meal)
One tsp crushed garlic
Coconut oil for frying
Spaghetti (we used whole-wheat spaghetti for a healthier option)

^{Just some really tasty ingredients over here.}

^{Fry chicken, fry!}

* If you would like to make this a gluten free dish, you can leave out the pasta and miss the sauce with rice, or meat only.

Instructions:

Fry your chicken pieces in coconut oil and crushed garlic. Add some salt to taste.
At the same time, steam your cauliflower until soft.
Blend the cauliflower until it’s a smooth puree. You might want to add a tad bit of the cream so that it blends easily.
Bring the pureed cauliflower, cream and cheese to the boil. Boil until all the cheese has melted, and then remove from the stove top. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Mix the cauli-cheese sauce, chicken pieces and cooked spaghetti together.
Serve with sprinkled grated cheese on top.

^{I love me some pink salt!}

My kiddo thoroughly enjoys his cauli-cheese spaghetti and always manages to polish off a good portion. He has no clue (yet) that he is eating “yucky” cauliflower. In fact, you can use the cauli-cheese sauce as a healthy addition to many meals, including mac and cheese, a steak sauce, chip dip, you name it!