Dandelion Spaghetti

'Eat Your Greens!' As a child 'greens' were the bane of my dining experience. I had a distinct dislike to broccoli, even smothered in lovely Velveeta, and my mother claimed that lettuce didn't count (come to find out, she's right). Of course, as far as I was concerned collards, mustard greens, and cabbage were out, too, and I had become very suspicious of her signature green smoothies.

Now that I have a child of my own and am equally determined to get the greens down, I have learned a few tricks.

1) Familiarity Breeds Content - Rarely will a child eat something he or she has never seen before. In fact, in bygone days that might have been considered down-right unwise. To familiarize your child with the new food present it weekly, cooked into different dishes and presented in slightly different ways (Dandelion Spaghetti one week, Dinosaur Kale another). After a few weeks or months your child will start trying, then requesting his or her favorite dishes highlighting the food. (It still amazes me that the Bean will request a handful of blanched kale in her lunch box - I only introduced it 4 months ago and it's a tough, leafy green for goodness sake!).

2) This brings us to Patience - the less attached you are to your child's eating habits, the more likely your child is to try new things. For example, if you routinely present 3 dishes per meal, let one of them be new. The other two should be familiar and well-liked so your little one doesn't feel his or her favorites are being threatened by the new dish. If your child takes one bite and refuses to eat any more (or won't even take the first bite), that's fine - Let him or her watch you eat it. That's enough for now and it establishes a habit (more familiarity) of introducing new foods into his or her repertoire.

3) Play with the Timing - As your child becomes used to a food and begins to take a couple bites of it per meal, begin serving it first and the other dishes five minutes later. He or she will 'snack' on it, consume more, and establish a habit of eating larger quantities of the dish.

4) That's My Food - As food become increasingly familiar, help your child take ownership. My teacher encouraged her little girl to call herself a 'Green Machine' and would proudly talk about how she loved her greens and would pack her own lunch full of Pressed Salad (a type of Asian slaw). I skeptically tested this concept on my own little one and to my surprise, it worked! She is proud that she eats her greens, a feat she recognizes isn't always easy and she will proudly tell you that 'greens clean your body.'

Dandelion Spaghetti is an ideal first dish to introduce greens to the whole family for the following reasons: 1) It is a very flavorful dish appreciated by adults and children alike, 2) It is Dr. Seuss' answer to healthy fettucine alfredo, 3) Dandelion greens are mild-tasting, but highly nutritious greens, 4) It's called Dandelion Spaghetti!! Don't underestimate the power of a name - my daughter regularly requests this dish simply because she loves the idea of eating her favorite flower. If your child is more interested in dinosaurs, try renaming it Dinosaur Spaghetti in honor of its brilliant green hue.

Recipe: Dandelion Spaghetti

Ingredients
1/2 bunch organic dandelion greens
8 oz organic udon noodles
1 tablespoon organic almond butter
1 teaspoon kuzu*, diluted in 2 tbsp water
2 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon unrefined sea salt
10 leaves organic basil, minced
1 tablespoon fresh organic oregano, minced
1 clove organic garlic, minced
11/4 cup unsweetened organic soy milk, separated

Directions
Cook udon noodles according to package directions. Rinse with cool water, drain, and set aside.

Combine almond butter, kuzu, soy sauce, sea salt, basil, oregano, garlic, and 3/4 cup soy milk in a jar and shake well.

Place dandelion greens and 1/2 soymilk in a food processor or blender and pulse until well combined.

Place cooked noodles in a saucepan or large saute pan. Turn heat to medium-low. Pour almond butter sauce over noodles and gently toss noodles to cover with sauce. Simmer, stirring gently, until sauce begins to thicken (about 8 minutes). Add dandelion green mixture and cook 2 minutes more or until sauce is coats noodles.

Serve garnished with sesame seeds or carrot flowers (cut long vertical strips from a carrot, then slice horizontally into rounds to create flowers).

*Kuzu is a thickener like cornstarch or arrowroot, except that kuzu is highly nutritive. It is found in the Asian section of many grocery stores. Use cornstarch or arrowroot if kuzu cannot be found.

Timing: Noodles can be cooked and tahini sauce made ahead of time and placed in separate covered containers in the refrigerator up to a day in advance.

Variation: Dinosaur Spaghetti - Substitute dinosaur kale for dandelion greens and play up the dinosaur theme - you may even poke broccoli florets (sauteed until crisp then sprinkled with soy sauce and removed from heat) standing upright in the noodles and call them Dinosaur Trees.