February 18, 2010

Sneaky Food

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem



There's a lot of controversy in the food world about sneaking nutritious food into your kids' favorite meals. One camp says children should learn to love vegetables in their true natural form while the other says get those vitamins and minerals into those kids any way you can! Having some very picky eaters myself, I lean more towards the second camp but wish I had it easy enough to be in the first. So that led me to hunting down Jessica Seinfeld's (yes, that Seinfeld and am I the only one who thinks they look creepily alike?) book, "Deceptively Delicious". We had success with sweet potato pancakes and sweet potato pasta sauce but it was todays lunch that won me over. Even the adults enjoyed it and I'll definitely be planning on making this again insha'Allah.



Mozzarella Sticks (with Cauliflower!)
(my additions are in red)

1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
1 tbsp flaxseed meal
1 tbsp sesame seeds (optional)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup cauliflower puree (steamed and blended cauliflower)
1 tbsp corn starch
non-stick cooking spray
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp italian seasoning 1 beaten egg


1. In a bowl, toss the breadcrumbs with the flaxseed, sesame seeds and italian seasong.

2. In a second bowl, stir together mozzarella, cauliflower and cornstarch . Shape into 8 logs (2 x 1/2" ). Gently dip into beaten egg and roll in breadcrumbs. Wrap in foil and freeze for at least 20 minutes.

3. Coat non-stick skillet with cooking spray over med-high heat. When pan is hot, add oil. Arrange sticks in single layer and cook 3 - 4 minutes, turning occasionally, until crumb coating is brown. Sprinkle with salt and serve.

5 comments:

  1. Omg! Mashallah that looks soooo goooooddd!! =) Btw, what's sweet potato pasta sauce and pancakes? =)

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  2. They're recipes from the same book; pureed sweet potatoes mixed into pancake batter and also stirred into any homemade pasta sauce - works best with mac & cheese since its already yellow.

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  3. Salaam... this looks really yummy! I may well give this a try as I have a head of cauli in my fridge. Think I'd probably use cheddar though to give it more cheesiness. Oh and I know it's not so much the kids you are trying to fool into eating veggies eh?! ;) LOL

    UmmIbrahim x

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  4. Salaam... I made them! Can you believe it 5/5 kids did NOT like them?! Only hubby and I enjoyed them. Very yummy with Cheddar btw!

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  5. lol, yup Umm Ibrahim, I'm using the kids as my excuse to get some more veggies in my diet as well! I'm very surprised your kiddos didn't fall for it?? I'll definitely have to try cheddar next time! I liked dipping these into ketchup and hot sauce too ;)

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Tell me what you think! As always, feedback and reviews are appreciated...happy cooking!