The first time you tasted carrot cake, you probably wondered why it had such a funny name because it had no hint of carrots in its taste or texture. Although the massive amounts of sugar in it, not to mention the traditional layer of cream cheese frosting on top, eliminated it from the “healthy foods” list, it was one of the first recipes that cleverly concealed a nutritious vegetable in its ingredients.

If your family loves the comfort of homemade favorites like meat loaf, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes and gravy, and spaghetti and meatballs, you can serve them without guilt by spiking the dishes with foods filled with vitamins and other nutrients. Sit back and enjoy the smiles of satisfaction but don’t ruin the trick by revealing your sneaky secret ingredients. 

Meating Friends

Ground beef, pork and veal are the easiest meats to infuse with healthy additives because it’s easy to hide shredded vegetables among tiny pieces of meat. Add a handful of cooked and shredded broccoli, carrots, mushrooms, spinach or zucchini to meatloaf, meatballs, meat-based casseroles, chili or burgers to secretly improve their health quotient. Make mini-meatballs with the meat-vegetable mixture, lightly saute and use as a fun pizza topping. 

Call on Cauliflower

Cauliflower isn’t the prettiest vegetable but its white color makes it easy to hide in colorful foods including cheese and tomato sauces. Steam it until it’s soft enough to pulverize with an electric hand mixer or blender and stir the puree into cheesy sauces used in macaroni and cheese or poured over favorite vegetables. Stir it into store-bought or homemade pasta sauces to add nutrients to the dish. Substitute half the potatoes with pureed cauliflower in your next batch of mashed potatoes. 

Groovy Gravy

Gravy is like bacon: everything is better with it. Make it a healthier topping for potatoes, rolls or biscuits by using pureed lentils as a thickener instead of the conventional drippings mixed with flour. If you stick to the traditional gravy recipe, substitute whole grain pastry flour for all-purpose or regular whole grain flour. It not only adds nutrients and fiber to the dish, its lighter texture blends more smoothly than the alternatives. 

Buried in Bread 

Similar to carrot cake, quick breads and muffins that have nuts or other treats incorporated into the dough can be spiked with nutritious ingredients that hide between the goodies. Cook carrots or zucchini until soft and finely shred them. Fold into the dough or batter right before baking. Incorporate plain yogurt into the frosting for an extra kick of calcium. 

Pie Ploys

While pie will never be the healthiest part of the meal, you can make it more wholesome by using fresh and pure filling ingredients. Instead of presweetened pumpkin, apple or berry pie filling, use pureed, canned pumpkin, fresh apples, or frozen or fresh berries and use honey as a sweetener and ground spices such as nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger and allspice. If the recipe calls for sweetened condensed milk, substitute low-fat vanilla yogurt to get the same creamy texture with a fraction of the fat and calories. Vanilla yogurt is also a wholesome alternative to whipped cream as a topping for pies.