Kid Friendly...Beets?

Professor Mom asked me the other day if I have any kid-friendly beet recipes, which I took on as a fun challenge.

You see, beets are on the list. What is the list you ask? The list is the list of foods that are almost universally rejected by children at some point in their development. While I am sure there are some children that go from high chair to adulthood without any disdain for beets or other foods, despite my best efforts, my boys must have a copy of the list somewhere…

I remember making homemade baby food and convincing myself that if R liked the foods I made him as a baby, it would ensure a lifelong love of said food. So I pureed asparagus, bell peppers, and other nontraditional vegetables and was fairly successful in getting R to eat most of the food I made for him.

While R is a really good eater, at 5 he isn’t quite as adventuresome as he was as a baby. Perhaps it is him exerting his will a little bit more strongly or it is the allure of other, sweeter foods that he now knows exist, but R isn’t a huge fan of certain foods, such as asparagus, mushrooms and yes, beets.

Part of my motivation in choosing beets to grow in our garden this spring was to see if R and G’s involvement in growing beets would entice them to eat more beets. We had our first beet harvest, which I let the boys pick themselves:

I trimmed the beet greens and root, cleaned them, wrapped them in foil and then roasted the beets in a 400 degree oven for about 20-30 minutes.

I peeled the beets, sliced them and poured a honey-balsamic glaze (2 tablespoons honey, 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar, mixed well, with a sprinkle of salt) on top:

To his credit, R tasted the beets. While he said he liked them, he did not ask for more than his first two bites.

So Aliki, perhaps you will have better luck than me. I figured if anything would help R like beets, a touch of honey might sweeten the deal. Let me know if your kids fare any better.

I'll keep trying,
SPC