Monday, January 10, 2011

I'm So Sneaky: Hiding Healthy Ingredients in Foods

A little while ago, I made a chocolate pudding with a secret ingredient from Jessica Seinfeld’s book Deceptively Delicious (Yes, apparently Jerry’s wife likes to deceive her husband and kids). 


I was a little wary after I had tried to make guacamole with a secret healthy ingredient (a recipe from a different cookbook) and failed.  I pureed peas and snuck them into the guacamole.  My husband Dave loves guacamole, so I envisioned a scenario in my head that went something like this:
Me: Honey, I made your favorite: Guacamole. 
Dave:  Mmmm.  This is delicious.  You’re awesome.
Me:  You’ll never guess what’s in it.
Dave:  Avocados?
Me:  Well, yes.  And peas!
Dave:  Wow!  I never would have known.  And so delicious, too!

Instead, it went something like this:
            Dave:  Hmmm.  I feel like this guacamole is missing something.
            Me:  No.  I’m sure I put everything in it. 
            Dave:  What about that one spice?
            Me:  Cilantro?  I put that in.
            Dave:  Hmmm.  I still feel like something isn’t quite right.
            Me:  Well, I did add an extra ingredient…peas.
            Dave:  That explains the mushy pea aftertaste. 

            And Dave who usually finishes off the entire bowl abandoned the guacamole to grow mold in our refrigerator until someone (me) admitted defeat and threw it away.

            With that experience in the not-so-distant past, I was hesitant about adding the avocado to the chocolate pudding, but reminded myself that you can’t win if you don’t try. 
            The book said the amount of pudding served 8-10 people, but I just thought the Seinfeld’s must not have large dessert appetites.  I poured generous amounts of warm pudding into two small sundae dishes and delivered it to Dave with an air of satisfaction for my good housewifeliness. (I was letting him watch football and making him dessert). 
            It turned out delicious, almost like eating brownie batter (without the risk of salmonella from raw egg consumption).  Yet, it was heavy and rich.  And, I made a mental note to put the cornstarch (the last ingredient) through a sieve as the balls of white powder detracted somewhat from the tastiness. 
            About a fourth of the way through, Dave left to drink a large glass of milk.  He returned with another large glass of milk and a look of determination.
            “Did I fill the dish too full?” I asked.
            “No.  I can do it,” he said and then let out a long breath to make room.  To his credit, he did finish and also promised to eat the leftovers, albeit “in a few days.  I can’t do that to my body two days in a row,” he said.  Maybe I should have listened to the serving suggestion, but at least I can sleep well knowing I snuck extra nutrients into our chocolate pudding.

2 comments:

  1. you have inspired me to give new life to my Blog! haha i love the stories and i can see dave saying all those things...so funny.

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  2. This reminds me of when I tried putting a couple cups of pureed carrots in my spaghetti sauce. The kids had no problem with it but after a few bites Derick said "this sauce is too sweet, it kind of tastes like carrot juice or something". You should post this chocolate pudding recipe ;)

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