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Secret Sauce – A Sauce Filled With Veggies

Is it bad for a parent to tell a little white lie? How if you tell kids you’re serving a special Secret Sauce, without mentioning that the sauce hides a pile of additional vegetables?

To test this question, we served up one of our favorite pasta sauces, also known as “Secret Sauce.” This sauce looks reasonably red, but it’s hides a variety of different vegetables from green (broccoli, spinach) to orange (carrots) to white (onions).

secret sauce

To make this sauce, you need to add about 1 cup of steamed pureed vegetables to every 3 cups of regular tomato sauce (the equivalent of one jar of sauce).

Secret Sauce (Tomato Sauce Filled with Veggies)

Shhh... your kids will never know there are veggies in this tomato sauce

Course Main Dish/Side Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword broccoli, carrots, onions, Spinach, tomato sauce, tomatoes, veggies
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 6

Ingredients

  • 1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
  • 4 ounces spinach
  • 10 broccoli florets
  • 1 onion, peeled and chopped
  • 3 cups tomato sauce (the equivalent of one jar)

Instructions

  1. Steam the carrot, spinach, broccoli, and onion. Puree all of the steamed vegetables (the goal is to get one cup of pureed vegetables). Combine the vegetable mixture with the tomato sauce and simmer it all together for an additional 30 minutes.

As we served this sauce, we remained as nonchalant as possible while placing it on the dinner table: “OK, here’s the pasta and sauce…” However, no one seemed to notice anything different, and dinner went on without incident. Tomorrow night? Pizza with leftover sauce.

We’re not big on hiding veggies – we’d rather have kids know what they’re eating and eat them with confidence. But every now and then, what’s the harm in making something a little extra nutritious? We’re starting to think that we should call this little white lie a little “green” lie instead. Either way, it’s all good. More veggies for all!

 

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2 Responses to Secret Sauce – A Sauce Filled With Veggies

  1. Dorothy at Shockingly Delicious May 14, 2015 at 4:51 pm #

    I heartily approve of your sauce!

    • Jeanne May 14, 2015 at 9:19 pm #

      Thanks, Dorothy!

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