Proof

My daughter loves artichokes, which is indisputable proof that we are related.

Artichokes happen to be one of my favorite foods and I eat them whole and steamed fairly often. At first I would just give her the leaves to play with, at her request. Then I started giving them to her and realized she was scraping the "meat" off of them, pretty tricky for a toddler. Now she and I eat them together. She also loves artichoke heart omlettes and artichoke ragout. I made the ragout with onions, crushed tomatoes, mushrooms and red peppers, served it over whole wheat rigatoni and it was a huge hit.

Artichokes are not everyone's favorite I know, but it just goes to show that kids will eat things that will surprise you (aside from rubberbands and grocery lists). Chances are if you like a vegetable, you child will too, so why not try giving it to them?

And just so you know, artichokes are a great source of fiber, have more antioxidants than red wine or chocolate, contain as much potassium as a small banana, have Vitamin C and Magnesium, as well as 4 grams of protein.

So along with your peas, eat your artichokes!