Vegetable of the Week: Zucchini

By Julia Moravcsik, PhD, author of Teach Your Child to Love Healthy Food

Each week, start teaching your child to like a new vegetable. Follow these 4 rules:

1. Feed each vegetable to your child twice a week.

2. Give your child the vegetable two times a week for six weeks. That’s a total of 12 times. After 12 presentations, your child will probably like the vegetable. If she doesn’t, wait for a few months and start the whole process again.

3. Don’t feed the same vegetable to your child two days in a row. Wait a day or two before giving her the vegetable again.

4. If your child tastes the vegetable, count it as a success. She may spit it out, but her brain is still registering the taste.

Six weeks from today your child will probably be an zucchini lover!

About Zucchini

Zucchini is a sweet, mild-tasting vegetable, and many children like it. Its one drawback is that the middles can be somewhat slimy. Children have an instinct to avoid slimy foods, because sliminess is an indicator that a food may be rotten.

If your child seems to dislike the texture, start by stir-frying the zucchini (olive oil and garlic work wonderfully here). Once your child learns to love zucchini this way, you can boil it.

Choose very firm, dark green zucchini.

Vary the dishes so your child doesn't get bored. Here are some quick and easy dishes:

1. After you cook the zucchini, add some shredded parmesan and butter.

2. Zucchini can be stir-fried in olive oil and garlic. Add some shredded parmesan cheese on top and microwave for 30 seconds to melt the parmesan.

3. Zucchini can be sliced lengthwise and served with dip.

Post a comment and tell me how it went!

Would you like a simple, easy-to-follow program that will teach your child to love healthy food? See my new book Teach Your Child to Love Healthy Food on amazon.com.