‘A Very Veggie World’ Recipes: Make Good Food Fun For Your Kids!

As most parents know, getting your kids to love their veggies can turn the kitchen into a battleground.

Food artist and author of “It’s A Very Veggie World: A Delicious Rainbow of 25 Recipes Your Family Will Love,” Clare Crespo, dropped by Access Hollywood Live to show how to make good for you food fun! Here are two of her kid-friendly recipes.

Veggie Wagon

(serves 4)

Ingredients:

1 large eggplant

1 medium zucchini

1/4 cup margarine

1 small onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 bell pepper, diced

1/2 cup tomato sauce

1 tbsp. chopped fresh basil leaves

1/8 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

4 toothpicks of skewers

Cut top quarter off eggplant lengthwise, leaving stem intact. Dice this piece (leave skin on). Scoop out eggplant from remaining piece (leaving half-inch thick wall of eggplant), and dice. Cut four half-inch thick slices from zucchini (for “wheels”) and dice remaining zucchini.

Melt margarine in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until onion is starting to color, about 5 minutes. Add diced zucchini, bell pepper, and diced eggplant and cook until soft, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add tomato sauce, basil, salt, and pepper and cook until liquid evaporates.

Attach zucchini “wheels” to eggplant using toothpicks or skewers. Fill eggplant with cooked mixture.

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Bear Paws

(serves 4)

Ingredients:

3 medium sweet potatoes or yams, scrubbed clean and sliced lengthwise into half-inch slices

2 tbsp. margarine, melted

1 tbsp. grated orange peel

1 pinch grated nutmeg

30 whole cashews

Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Arrange sweet potatoes in one layer in shallow baking dish. Drizzle margarine over sweet potatoes. Sprinkle orange zest and nutmeg over sweet potatoes. Toss to coat.

Bake for 40 -45 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Remove from oven. Place sweet potato slices on a serving tray. Insert 3 or 4 cashews into the end of each potato slice to resemble bear claws.

For more of Clare’s crafty recipes, head over to www.averyveggieworld.com.