The Magic Ingredient

It has taken a while, but I have learned to love summer vegetables. I was never a fan of zucchini, and now I greedily add it to my cart at the grocery store. I even like yellow crookneck squash! My children, however, are not convinced of their deliciousness. So, finding a way to get my kids to eat their vegetables without shoveling them down their throats is a challenge. Fortunately, I think I may have found the solution.

The "magic ingredient" is participation ... and cheese ... but mostly participation. My daughter helped me to assemble this meal and took pride in it, therefore she ate her dinner and asked for seconds. Here is a great recipe that we all enjoyed seconds of:


Summer Vegetable Flatbread (modified from foodnetwork.com)

All-purpose flour, for dusting
1 pound pizza dough
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil plus extra, for drizzling
1 large (8 ounce) zucchini, thinly sliced
1 yellow crookneck squash, thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano leaves, divided
1 1/2 cups (4 ounces) shredded mozzarella (I used pre-shredded Italian blend)

Place an oven rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough into a 12-inch circle. With a pastry brush, brush 1 tablespoon of the oil over the dough. Using the tines of a fork, prick the dough all over. Arrange the vegetable slices on top of the dough. Drizzle the vegetables with oil. Bake the dough for 18 to 20 minutes until the edges begin to brown. Remove the bread from the oven, sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of oregano and the cheeses. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes until the cheeses are melted and bubbly.

Sprinkle the flatbread with the remaining oregano, cut into wedges and serve. A light sprinkling of garlic salt is quite nice as well.

Now THAT is a painless way to eat your veggies!