The Alpha-Veggie Challenge: A for Asparagus

This is proving to be very interesting. A few days back I had made the Asparagus-Pesto lasagna. Zander really liked it, Abigail thought it was okay- and neither of them knew it had asparagus in it. But they knew that Mom and Dad had asparagus in theirs. Then the other night I had picked up two bunches of asparagus and was prepping one to grill when Abigail walked in and said “Ewww…Asparagus!” I proceeded to remind her that she actually did like asparagus. Doesn’t she remember that she likes to pick it fresh out of Grandma’s garden and nibble it up. “Oh yeah…I guess I like asparagus not cooked.” So I left out some stalks to peel the tough bottoms and leave raw for the kids. They both gobbled them up- dunked in a bit of ranch dressing. Both giving an enthusiastic thumbs up to raw asparagus.

Last night it was soup’s turn. I looked to my “Veggie Evangelist” Alanna for inspiration and found a recipe for Easy-to-Elegant Asparagus Soup. I did make a few changes, but overall stuck with the integrity of her soup. The first change I made was to use less celery, and instead I added some chopped mushrooms to sweat with the onion and celery. I also added a pinch of dried thyme to the sweating veggies. Later on, when it came time to add the sour cream, I opted to use half & half instead because Zander doesn’t like sour cream, and I wasn’t sure if he would taste it. And finally, instead of the vinegar, I used a splash of lemon juice because I loooove lemon with asparagus. On the grown-ups portion of soup I also added some fresh lemon zest. I scooped it all into bowls and topped the soup with some homemade croutons for added kid appeal.

When the kids came to the table they commented on the soup- which was oddly served up as a side dish – that never happens here. So I told them I wanted to talk about my green soup on my blog and wanted to know what they thought of it. First tastes they both burst into “yum!”. Zander then proceeded to gobble his up and ate most of his soup. Abigail ate a few bites and then turned her attention to her plate and the waiting goodness there. After they were finished with dinner, I confessed that it was actually asparagus soup- and they both were happy to learn that they liked asparagus soup. Abigail did tell me in all honesty that it’s not her favorite, and she would eat it again, but would prefer her asparagus raw next time.

So far I have learned that if I don’t come out and tell them asparagus is in something, they will at least taste it. And I guess if I want to hide veggies, I can probably get away with it for a little while, but eventually I think they’ll both figure it out. I have one more asparagus preparation for them to try- and this one is going to be obvious. There will be no getting around the fact that they are going to try and eat asparagus. Will it work? Stay tuned.

Tomorrow, Michael’s Chicken always puts my husband into a delirious coma. I’ll share how I make it so that it is the epitome of roasted chicken perfection.