Using Vegetable Purees

I need to add this post in before I get too far along because it will be important to other posts. For awhile now, I've been following some of the guidelines in the book Deceptively Delicious to help get more vegetables in our meals. I posted the following excerpt originally on our family blog, but it's even more necessary here because a lot of the recipes I will post are ones that lend themselves nicely to adding purees:

I've never really been one to get organic foods or be the all-natural "granola" mom. But for awhile, I've been looking for ways to help us be healthier. I think we do a pretty good job on a normal basis--we rarely (as in once every few months) eat out, and I don't buy a lot of snacky foods (my kids hardly know what soda is). Not that I'm bragging. I just know we all REALLY like that kind of stuff, and it would be way too easy to go overboard (do I need to mention my Doritos addiction again?). So I don't even buy junk food. We've always had a hard time with vegetables though, which I'm sure almost any parent with toddlers can say. Ethan is the pickiest--the boy refused to eat a berry cobbler because he didn't know what it was--and for awhile he didn't eat any vegetables unless they were hidden. I received a book a couple years ago for Christmas that was called Deceptively Delicious. It was something I had requested, but it sat on the shelf because I didn't think I had time, even though it sounded like a good idea. Wow, was I wrong. The idea is to make vegetable purees and then mix them in the foods in your regular meals. That way the kids don't even think about turning up their noses because it's something they already like. I had also purchased a Baby Bullet a little while ago to make some baby food for Jonathan, and I pulled out the book to see if I could go ahead and make the purees along with the baby food. So easy! Most of the time I incorporate the ideas she gives, instead of using the recipes in the book (although I'm sure I'll be using some of the recipes--the brownies with spinach are supposed to be great--Oprah said so!). I ended up making a meatball dish and hid sweet potatoes in the meatballs, carrots in the sauce, and cauliflower in the mashed potatoes. And the boys cleaned their plates! Will would have eaten most of it anyway, but not Ethan, so I was pretty excited. The next day I made macaroni and cheese that had cauliflower and navy beans. Ethan actually said, "This is great!" The boy has never said anything like that about any food. The funniest part was when Anthony and Will split a sweet potato, and Ethan turned his head away and refused a bite, without knowing that he'd had some at dinner with no complaints. Anyway, I just wanted to share because I'm loving the results. I love that even I'm eating some of the vegetables that I know are good for me, but aren't super exciting. I don't have to cover them with cheese sauce to make them more appetizing, and nobody notices any difference because the purees mix right in. And no, even though it sounds like it, I'm not getting a commission for selling the book.


So, whenever there's a recipe that I add purees too, I'll put a note. Don't feel like you have to add them to get the recipe right, but it's there if you're interested. For most vegetables purees, you just need to steam the vegetable, put it in your food processor (you can use a blender, but it likely won't be as smooth of a texture, unless you have a fabulous blender), add about 1/4 cup of water (or more as necessary), and blend. I put 1/2 cup of the mixture in a Ziploc sandwich baggie, mark the bag with a permanent marker, and then freeze until it's ready to use. Then I defrost the puree, add it in to the meal, and most of the time, no one is the wiser.

I used to have a pretty comprehensive list of which purees worked with each meal, but I forgot to make a back-up, and my iPod ate the list. From memory, some common purees I use are:

Cauliflower--I buy a frozen bag, steam it, and divide it into two batches and blend each. It mixes into a lot of things very well because it doesn't have a very strong taste. Some recipes I add it into are Baked Potato Soup, Chicken & Noodles Turkey Burgers, and almost anything with a tomato sauce (Italian Pasta Bake, Spaghetti, etc.). Sometimes I'll mix in with ground beef just after it's browned, and it cooks right in.

Sweet Potato--Bake a couple sweet potatoes, and puree half of one with a 1/4 cup of water. These hide well in beef recipes (Meatloaf, Meatballs), Turkey Burgers, Soups, and again, tomato sauce bases. I put this and cauliflower in Tater Tot Casserole the other day, and it was AMAZING!

Carrots--I use regular (not baby) carrots, steam them, and then you can puree several at a time with  water as needed. I did 6-8 and got 2 1/2 cups of puree. Tomato bases, chili, and soups work really well.

Butternut Squash--I bake the squash for about an hour, and then puree it with water. A small one will yield about 2 cups of puree. The taste reminds me a lot of sweet potatoes, so they're often interchangeable. 

Navy (or any white) Beans--These you have to be careful with because they change the texture. The kids were okay with it in macaroni, but I was not. They work really well in hamburgers or Turkey Burgers.


Okay, now that I'm looking it over, I suppose I use them in most of the same kind of recipes, but you can change up the combinations. I usually do one or two when I add them in, but too many will change the flavor. I haven't been brave enough to try them in any white sauces, but I guess I should branch out. I'll keep experimenting and let you know!