Are your kids picky eaters?  Is it a bloody struggle to get them to eat vegetables?  Don’t worry because we’ve talked to two cooking dads and one cooking mom on fun and interesting ways to convince your children to eat the challenging vegetable, eggplant.  

J. Gamboa

Father to Lucia, 6 and Emilio, 1 and husband of Maja, Babycakes Diaper Cakes "Baker" and Femmefafel Fersonalized Stationary printer

J. is Chef of Cirkulo and Milkyway Restaurants.

His veggie: Eggplant

Make eggplant into a moussaka which is like baked macaroni except that it has eggplant instead of macaroni.

Show your kids that you yourself eat veggies and make them try it from an early age.  My kids eat anything and everything but I myself am not fond of certain veggies like ampalaya, so I can't expect them to eat that too.

Quito Jose

Father of Basti, 3 and husband of Kay, a leasing officer of Greenhills Shopping Center

Quito is the owner of Brothers Designer Burgers.

His Veggie: Eggplant

Saute eggplant with garlic and onions, add bechamel sauce, cheddar and parmesan cheese and sprinkle with bread crumbs.  Bake it until golden brown.

My wife and I try to tell him that it’s yummy and will make him strong.  We don’t force our son to eat veggies because it might turn him off to veggies all the more, we just show Basti that we eat them too and sana when he gets older he will appreciate its value.

Gabrielle Barredo

Mother to Olivia, 10 and Julia, 4

Gabrielle is a housewife with a passion for baking.

Her veggie: Eggplant

I get the meat of the eggplant and add it as a topping to my homemade pizza.  The taste gets hidden by the cheese and the pepperoni.

It’s hard to convince kids to eat veggies.  The taste prevails over whatever healthy benefits they can get out of it.  Moms must be sneaky about it and hide it in other foods that they like.  Also it’s a good idea to set an example.  If the parents eat veggies regularly then eventually they may emulate their parents but that may take a bit of time.

Read up on other ways to help your kids get to eat ampalaya, squash and the trio of ampalaya, squash and eggplant.

Photo from sxc.hu