Five ways to get your kid to eat broccoli

I am one of those moms who is lucky enough to have a very adventurous eater.  P will try almost anything and has a pretty diverse palate.  He’s not remotely picky.  He likes kale and brussels sprouts as much as his mama (SO MUCH!); he enjoys prosciutto, dried figs, dates, and home-made (allergy free) pesto; and he asks for tofu with tamari by name on a regular basis.  But there are also things he very much doesn’t like.  He is not down with potatoes in any form, nor does he enjoy tomatoes much (he will tolerate them in a curry sauce and gives them a try straight from the summer garden once a week just in case).  And until he was about 14 months old, he did NOT like broccoli.  I tried giving it to him over and over and over and over and all of a sudden – BOOM – he loved it.  It was the biggest 180 I’ve ever seen in my life.  Rather than take credit for this (or any of his taste buds’ curiosity) I will simply offer a few ideas if you’re struggling.  Maybe these were factors in patty-cakes’ change of heart…

FIVE WAYS TO GET YOUR KID TO EAT BROCCOLI*

1. Put it in a smoothie – Go ahead, be sneaky.  Trickery only works so long with little people, you may as well embrace it for the short time period that you can.  Use a cup that’s not transparent and so long as you have other good flavors going on (banana, applesauce, berries, whatever), your little one will never know.  Same approach can be done with muffins (or any baked good) too.  Just puree whatever your kid won’t eat and bake it into something they will.  I have put everything from beans and hemp seeds to broccoli and beets in his smoothies.  He’s never been the wiser.  He also now thinks those are “normal” things that people put in smoothies.
2. Be the role model and try, try, try again – JUST. KEEP. OFFERING.  It’s as simple as that.  If you don’t offer it, they can’t say yes.  I think I offered broccoli 2-3 times a week and he dramatically gagged on a tiny piece each time before refusing the rest.  I never pushed it too much, just tried again next time.  In the interim, he saw the rest of the family eating it and enjoying it (so be sure to model the behavior you want).  And then one day he just went for it.
3. Offer something to dip it in – Kids (and adults?) seem to like dipping things.  Who knows the psychology behind it, but use it.  We are a mayo family and whenever there is something he is giving the side eye, I ask if he’d like to have some mayo on the side to dip it in.  It’s like a crutch.  It gives him a way to say yes when he thinks he wants to but isn’t sure.  Then he can dip it or not.  I don’t comment on his choice and sometimes after a few times of eating it “with” the condiment he doesn’t need (or ask for) the condiment any more at all.  Tamari is another sauce that he loves to dip things into; and honey/maple syrup is what I use for non-savory items.  A little (like 1 tsp) goes a long way – it’s more about him having the control.  [PS Thrive Market has mayo that’s practically home-made with fewer ingredients than you can count on one hand, including avocado oil]
4. Revamp the look – Roast it, bake it, steam it, keep it raw.  Spiralize it, julienne it, make it in cute shapes to make a face on a plate.  Do anything new and exciting to change the look/taste/texture/mouth-feel of it.  For a long time I offered steamed broccoli and then one day there was a veggie platter at a friend’s party and next thing I know raw broccoli is flying into his face.  What?!?!  Just because you don’t think your kid will like something, don’t let it bias how you present it.  Maybe you don’t like raw bell peppers, so you never think to give them to your kid.  Or maybe you don’t like sautéed bell peppers, so you never think to offer them that way.  You get the point.  Experiment with how you do or don’t cook things.
5. Put “worse” things on the plate – If there’s nothing on the plate your kid wants to eat, then they have to chose something right?  I guess not necessarily, but the reality is, if there are a bunch of offerings on the plate, your kid will eat the best things first.  So make the plate a bunch of foods that are not their favorites and see what happens.

*Or any other food he or she won’t eat