I regularly get into discussions with folks on both sides of the issue – Meaties and Veggies – about how to convince stubborn carnivores to try plant-based foods. I’ve reviewed all sorts of suggestions, but one stands out as a classic no-brainer…
It’s a newstalgia-ish take on what folks used to do to get picky kids to try new foods, But it relies on two key factors to ensure success. And those challenges can be overcome easily with the dish I’m going to recommend with a little fore-thought, and a suitable amount of recipe hacking…
(By the way… I debated with Sister Erin, before starting to write this post, about whether to use words like ‘distract’ or ‘mis-direct’ when describing what we’re taking about doing in this post. We agreed that such ter-minology would make it sound as if we were proposing some-thing naughty or unethical. Such as shrinkflation, bogus BOGO deals, or the supermarkets short-weighting you on meat. We’re not shorting anybody on anything!)
The rules
The first rule of disguising a dish to get a kid to try it is to make it look, smell and/or taste like some-thing they already know and at least like – if not love. If you choose the right dish that’s not going to be too difficult.
The second rule is to not tell the kid what’s in it (or not in it) until after they’ve tried it and agreed in front of witnesses that it’s at least ‘pretty good’, if not ‘great’.
My candidate for such a dish, to use specifically to get kids to plant-based foods, is…. Mexican Chili!
Why Chili?
It’s too easy to disguise vegetarian or vegan chili as a Tex-Mex or Texan version.
Those northern variants of the Mexican original almost always have meat of some kind in them – often ground beef; sometimes pulled or stewed chunks of ‘whole’ beef. If your picky kid – whether aged 6 or 6o – is used to seeing scrambled ground beef in their chili, you can go directly to one of the new loose-packed ground meat look-alike products from makers such as Beyond Foods. If not, there are many other plant-based protein products available designed to mimic ground meat.
But the sooner anti-plant curmudgeons come face-to-leaf with non-animal proteins in their natural forms, the better. So we’re proposing cooking up a more traditional plant-based chili that relies on beans or other legumes, and serve it on rice, ensuring your dish provides a complete nutritional protein complex using ‘real’, identifiable foods.
Yes, you can use Tofu if you want. But that’s a whole separate can of… Non-animal protein. One which has it’s own history of non-acceptability to some diners. And probably merits a whole post of its own along the same lines as today’s…
Veggies aplenty
We think it’s advisable to use as great a variety as possible of suitable veggies, to make it harder for diners to find (or not find) specific ingredients in the mix they may be looking for.
Among the traditional veggies found in Mexican Chili are pinto, black, navy or kidney beans. They’re non-threatening and familiar to most diners.
Likewise, kernel sweet corn. This ingredient, in particular, can help make the dish more ‘Mexican’, more savoury and a little sweeter. Something some diners will appreciate as it will help offset any perception of over-spiciness or excess ‘heat’. If you take the time to roast it on a tray in the oven with a sprinkle of sweet paprika, you can also pay homage to Elote, Mexican Street Corn. Sweet!
Onions, Sweet Bell Peppers, Fresh Chili Peppers (your choice, as desired), Sweet Potato, Squash and Garlic (to your taste) are all classics. You may want to include Tomatillos. But it’s best not to use actual Tomatoes in this recipe. They’re too tart, and will spoil the flavour balance.
Herbs and spices
Traditional Chili flavours include, Cumin, Coriander, Paprika and Oregano. Of course, you can default to a pre-blended Chili Powder. It will contain most of the classic ingredients we’ve already discussed. in appropriate proportions. But you’d just be duplicating what we’re already suggested, using dried ingredient. Which, on the whole, are less flavourful, produce a ‘hotter’, flatter flavour profile, and may come off giving the dish an unfortunate ‘muddy’ taste.
My take
Don’t forget to add Salt, of course, to taste, but only after the rest of the ingredients have had a chance to simmer together for a while.
Serve over plain white rice.
My questions to you:
Do you feel it’s too early in the inevitable Great Shift away from meat to start introducing your family to ‘every-day’ plant proteins?
Do you agree with Erin and me that a hearty, vegetarian Chili such as we’ve proposed is a good way to do that?
Do you agree with us that our Chili strategy is ethical, transparent and has your family’s bet interests in mind – even if is pulling the wool over their eyes a littee?
Are you afraid they’ll love you a little less when they discover your blockbuster Chili actually contains no meat?
Muse on that…
~ Maggie J,