Q: My family won’t eat vegetables. It’s very frustrating and we end up throwing a lot of food away. Help! – Debby

A: While we’d like our family members to appreciate their value, there are so many reasons why people won’t eat vegetables. Most of those reasons have nothing to do with the actual taste of vegetables, but forcing the issue often makes things worse. Luckily, vegetables can be hidden into many dishes. Finely chop vegetables and sneak them into lasagna, pasta sauce, burgers, casseroles, soups, and even into baking mixes – muffins, breads, and cupcakes. Spike burgers with grated onion, spaghetti sauce with carrots, make homemade bread with applesauce instead of oil and add grated zucchini. Add marinated vegetables to meat-kebabs. Load the next pizza you order up with veggies. Check out the international section of the supermarket for delicious vegetarian foods, such as stuffed grape leaves, eggplant spreads, sundried tomatoes, and salsa. Cram as many veggies as you can into whole wheat flour tortillas. Finally, for kids, cut vegetables into fun shapes that they’ll enjoy eating. Make stars out of sweet potatoes, and cut veggies into letter shapes.

Lisa Tsakos