How to Eat Your Veggies.

A fun thing I do with veggies (like carrots, zucchini, and summer squash) is to use a veggie peeler to shave long strips (arrange messy like a salad), toss with cheese (cubed or shredded), salt/pepper, oil or whatever you like.

I used frozen edaname and mix with a chopped fresh red pepper - yummy with a little salt/pepper.

I always try to double the veges and use half as much meat called for in many of my regular dishes. This is especially easy to do in soups, stir fry, fried rice, casseroles/pot pie, stews, pasta dishes, stuff like that. Less meat plus extra veges makes for a healthier AND cheaper dinner :)

My picky kids do n't eat this but I ahve been loving it lately: Kale Chips. Kale is probably the most healthy vegetable that you can eat but I have never liked the texture but as a chip it is amazing and SO easy. You just take the kale off of the tough stem, chop it up, tossin olive oil and sea sale and cook at 350 for 10-15 minutes. I sprinkle fresh parmesan on also.

I put a little olive oil in a pan and sautee some garlic and onion. Then add my veggies (usually squash with zuchinni, or asparagus cut into 3rds, or fresh green beans). I add some salt and pepper to taste and about 1 1/2 rb of butter (I use Smart Balance). And just saute them altogether, or sometimes I'll add a tiny bit of water at the bottom and put on a lid. They always turn out really good, with good color, and the amount of crispness I want is easy to control.

Throw them in a skillet with a dash of soy sauce and sautee, cook them in the oven and for the last five minutes, switch to broil and sprinkle real parmesan cheese (not the powder) over them.

Ellie Kreiger has a really yummy (and healthy) recipe with frozen peas, light cream cheese, skim milk and garlic powder, all cooked in a pan together that's delicious!

Not very kid friendly, but Louisiana Hot Sauce is great on plain veggies too.

Update:

When I was a kid, we put frozen mixed veggies on our baked potatoes too, it was wonderful! Sometimes we put that gross cheese sauce from a squeeze bottle on it as well, which I doubt they even make anymore.

Also, it's pretty easy to sneak baby food veggies into things like casseroles and pasta sauces, eliminating the need to make a whole veggie side dish.

Do they have to be frozen? I really like the taste of fresh vegetables, and they don't necessarily have to take longer to prepare. Fresh green beans or broccoli--wash/rinse and blanch; pour off the water and add garlic and butter and rosemary (to green beans) or whatever spices you like. They tend to be more flavorful when fresh. Fresh spinach or collard greens--wash and cook down in olive oil and onion and garlic. Add salt to taste and whatever other spices you like. I sometimes add apple to my collards.

half blanch frozen bussel sprouts. Then put them in a hot pan and saute till they are browned with bacon, onion, and pine nuts. drizzle with a balsamic vinagrette reduction. Delicious.

zucchini casserole. brown onions, garlic and bacon in a pan. Add soft cubed bread. Line a caserole dish with the bread onion garlic mix. Then top with cheddar cheese, then blanched sliced zucchini, then diced tomatoes, then parmesan cheese, lastly more bacon crumbles.

make a slaw (cabbage, onions, pineapple, vinegar, mayo)

toss with fresh dill and sea salt.

Stirfry works with any veggies you have on hand - better with fresh than frozen.
One tip is to cook them fast on super high heat. If you cook veggies on medium to low heat they "Sweat." You end up with a pan full of water that should still be inthe veggie. That's why stir fry is so good. It's hot and quick.

I like to pan sautte mushrooms, onions, peppers and garlic on the stove. Add a few chopped tomatoes right at the end. It's delicious.

I will cut whole onions into huge slices. salt pepper and grill

Slice zuchinni and yellow squash in half lengthwise. Marinate in italian salad dressing or olive oil and salt. pepper, garlic and grill.

We grill veggies a lot. Grilled zucchini, grilled asparagus, and even grilled carrots. Blanch the carrots first in boiling water for 1 minute or so. Then marinate in olive oil, salt, pepper, maybe a little orange juice or zest, then grill. Zucchini can be quartered before marinating in olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and rosemary. Same marinade for asparagus.
Our kids loooove cauliflower mash. Buy a bag of frozen cauliflower, put it in a covered dish in the microwave and cook til really soft. Mash with any or all of the above: milk, butter/margarine, low fat sour cream, turkey bacon bits, garlic, caramelized onion, shredded cheese. We serve it with chicken marsala in lieu of mashed potatoes.

In my opinion, fresh veggies always taste better regardless of how they're prepared... but since you asked about frozen, here's an easy way to cook frozen peas:

In a sauce pan, saute a tablespoon of garlic in a tablespoon of butter over medium heat. Add a bag of frozen peas, a tsp of dried thyme and a pinch of salt and sugar with a couple of grinds of pepper. Put the lid on and allow the peas to steam for a few minutes until cooked.

You can do the same with frozen corn, just skip the pinch of sugar and consider adding a sprinkle of red chili flakes. If you're feeling really indulgent, you can add a little cream at the end and cook it down to make a "creamed" corn sauce.

Other than frozen corn and peas, I think veggies loose too much texture to taste OK from the freezer.

For fresh cooked veggies, my favorite are skillet green beans with lemon from the Cooks Illustrated side dish cookbook. In a tbs of olive oil, add 1 lb of fresh green beans (haricot verts, the skinny ones cook fastest, and are the most tender) and saute until they start to darken the skin a little (about 5 min), add another tablespoon of olive oil in the middle of the pan with a couple cloves of crushed garlic, a sprinkle of chili flake and a tsp of thyme, cook for just 30 seconds to a minute while sprinkling two heaping tablespoons of flour over the green beans (sorry, I don't measure much and don't follow the recipe to a T anymore, I've made it so many times).

Stir the garlic and spices into the green beans to mix in the flour and cook for another minute to mellow the flour. Add a cup of chicken stock the the pan, lower the heat, cover and cook until the beans are tender (about 5 min). Once the beans are cooked, the sauce will be thickened and delicious. Off the heat, stir in some fresh lemon juice to taste (I usually use half of lemon) and serve.

The complete recipe has you top them with a mix of toasted breadcrumbs and parmasen cheese, which is a nice touch but not always necessary. I make a big batch of crumbs and leave them in the fridge to use whenever needed. Saves some time.

Melt a little bit of shredded cheese on them.

We love roasting veggies. Chop them up and in a bowl mix in a little olive oil and salt (to cover them). Roast at 375 till they are golden brown on the outside and soft on the inside. You can eat them as is or put them in your main dish. We just had roasted veggie enchiladas for dinner - yum! I used green and yellow summer squash, carrots and onions for this. Root veggies all roast well. Beets are awesome roasted. So are brussel sprouts (with fresh lemon juice put on afterwards). Cauliflower is good. We love to then make a mild curry with the roasted cauliflower. Yum! Any peppers are delicious. I hear broccoli is good this way but I have not tried it yet.

try fresh cut up carrots, green peppers, cukes, broccoli, etc. with tzatziki dip from costco. my whole family loves it.

I don't cook veggies as a side I throw them in with the main course. I love veggies that have been cooked in a crockpot with chicken. They catch all the good chicken juices!
Or try them in pasta or rice dishes. I like cooking half a serving of pasta (per person) then tossing it in a skillet with a bunch of brocolli and peppers and tomatoes and adding a little of that Philidelphia cooking cream.
As for recipes my kid loves, well I have that odd toddler who hatesalot of traditional toddler foods but asks for peas as a snack (no salt or butter or he won't eat it.) I have to buy lima beans just for him because even though I think they are gross he loves them.

cheeesseee lol .. there are some vegetables that i wont eat plain but when my mom makes them with cheese sauce on them it doesnt matter what they are ill eat them ... also i hate cauliflower but my grandpa makes fried cauliflower and its awesome its breaded and fried in vegetable oil in a pan

My son eats his broccoli raw and dipped in marinara sauce. Not my cup of tea but whatever works to get veggies in him.
I've also added spinach to fruit smoothies. Spinach cheese puffs.... it might be a Bisquick or Betty Crocker recipe... I can't recall at the moment. Cheese, spinach, italian seasoning, binder..mixed and baked. They're yummy.

I eat them in a smoothie with fruit in the morning.