Look Kids, No Meat: How to Get Your Children to Eat Vegetarian (or Not)
By Andy Ward
Photo: Alex Lau
Over pork shoulder tacos one night, we told our daughters that we had an announcement to make. “Jeez, that sounds scary,” said Phoebe, our 13-year-old. Little did she know.
“Next week, we’re going vegetarian,” we informed them. “Now, you guys are either with us or against us, and since you aren’t old enough to get a vote, it looks like you’ll be with us.”
Oh my God, the whining. But I’ll be starving. Tofu is disgusting. This isn’t fair. We already eat a lot of vegetables.
This last point was true. Our daughters have been trained to think of a meal as incomplete without something green on their plates. They ask for seconds of kale salad and, to their grandfather’s eternal bewilderment, will go off on a bowl of brussels sprouts. Our issue is different. Other than the occasional black bean burrito, they flatly refuse meals that feature the mainstay proteins of a vegetarian’s diet: tofu, eggs, lentils, beans. Which feels like a fairly epic parental fail given that every week it seems like an inspiring new cookbook implores us to live healthier, go plant-based, and experiment with einkorn wheat berries. We thumb through recipes by Yotam Ottolenghi and April Bloomfield, saying, “If only we could eat like this every night.” So we tried—for a week, at least. Here’s what we learned.
Never Reveal the Meal Plan Ahead of Time
The less time the kids have to organize their resistance, the better. When we announced on the morning of Day 1 that dinner was going to be Ottolenghi’s Thai red lentil soup, what ensued were hours of complaining that lasted through dinner. No matter how good the soup was—and it was good—its fate was sealed. Abby, our 11-year-old: “I miss chicken.” Phoebe: “It wasn’t terrible, but I’m really hungry.”
Kids Are Really Hungry
Tuesday night is soccer night, which means that the kids come home late, and they’re ready to chow. That night we served vegetable fritters on rolls with tamarind sauce, and Phoebe, who was starving, inhaled one. And then another. We declared victory. And then she asked for a chicken sandwich.
Don’t Be Too Ambitious
One night we made April Bloomfield–inspired salad sandwiches. This one seemed about as nonthreatening as it gets: a bunch of vegetables, some ranch dressing, all smushed between two slices of Pullman bread. Oh, and hard-boiled eggs. Which our kids despise. Just having them on the table touched off an epic meltdown. Abby put on her fleece balaclava, which she claimed “protected her from the egg smell.” Dinner derailed.
Get the recipe: Salad Sandwiches with Ranch Spread
Misdirection Is Your Friend
We could tell the girls were dreading tofu night, so we rolled out the sides first: avocado salad, roasted carrots, and sushi rice. By the time we presented the tofu strips—glazed with miso butter and the best thing we ate all week—their heads were in a better place. “They look like french fries,” Phoebe said. “I’ll eat that.” And she did. Both of them did. Two bites each. #SmallVictories.
More from Bon Appétit:
Camp Lunches that Go Beyond PB&J
The Ultimate Guide to Grilling Corn
Make Delicious (and Cheap!) Pesto Out of Just About Anything
How One Woman Ate No Processed Food for an Entire Year
How to Eat & Drink (Very) Well in the Great Outdoors
