We know vegetables are good for us, but sometimes our taste buds resist. Here are a few creative ways to fit more veggies into your family’s diet. They’ll love the taste, and the nutrition factor is a bonus!

Veggie Sweet Treats

Baked goods can be an easy way to slip vegetables into your kids’ lunchboxes. Who’s going to say no to a chocolate brownie? They don’t have to know it’s full of beets and black beans as well as chocolate. Chef Dale MacKay’s Black Bean and Beet Brownies are a great way to add vitamins, plant protein and fibre to a lunch dessert.

The same goes for chocolate zucchini cake or carrot cake. It’s moist and delicious, and the flavour will be the only thing they’re focused on. Channel these delicious veggie-studded cakes into a snack or breakfast to go with the Zucchini Carrot Muffins.

Veggie Mac ‘n’ Cheese FTW

Kids of all ages find macaroni and cheese hard to resist. It’s easy to sneak in a lot of vegetables without sacrificing flavour. If your family likes white cheddar macaroni and cheese, you can make an almost all-veggie sauce by steaming a head of cauliflower in 2½ cups of vegetable or chicken stock, then puréeing the veggie and stock mixture in a blender. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard and a ½ cup shredded white cheddar cheese to the mixture and blend one more time. Pour over cooked macaroni, sprinkle with breadcrumbs and Parmesan and bake for 25 minutes at 350°F. No one will know it isn’t regular cheese sauce!

If your kids are partial to orange cheddar, you can do the same thing with butternut squash. It adds great body and sweetness to the sauce, along with healthy doses of fibre and vitamins. Simply add a cup of squash purée (1 lb. cooked squash blended with ½ cup vegetable stock and salt and pepper to taste) to 2 cups white sauce along with 1 cup cheese. Use whatever cheese you have on hand. Top with breadcrumbs and Parmesan and bake. For a quicker dinner, just serve it out of the pot. For another veggie-packed pasta option, try this delicious fusilli recipe.

Veggies as a Meat Extender

Ground mushrooms are virtually indistinguishable from ground meat – swap some finely chopped mushrooms for your ground beef in a burger mix for juicy, savoury burgers. Lentils are another great addition to meat mixtures. Add them to chili or sloppy joes for a fibre boost. The classic onion, celery and carrot combo, which adds a flavour foundation to so many dishes, can still do its job if you grind it finely and include it in meatloaf, meatballs or burgers. Your family won’t know you’ve added veggies to their meal – they’ll only know it tastes delicious!