Oven-baked Zucchini and Potatoes

Has it ever happened to you that you spend time and effort to prepare a dish you love, but when you proudly bring it to the table, the little ones suddenly lose their appetite - or worse, start crying in despair? Well, this happens to me a lot. Especially when it comes to vegetarian food. But it used to be worse - I came up with a couple of strategies to fool them into eating at least some of the things they officially hate. Four strategies, to be precise (well, five, if you count bribing): Hide it. Puree it. Decorate it. Or make the kids cook it themselves. (The two first ones work for adults as well ;) )

Today, I’ll share with you a recipe containing zucchini, the number one enemy of my kids. But surprisingly enough, when they get to slice the vegetables for this dish themselves, they somehow forget to complain about it. A small miracle..

For four portions, you need

• 600g potatoes


• 2 medium-sized zucchini


• ½ red pepper


• 500g fresh tomatoes, peeled


• 1 onion


• 3 garlic cloves


• 50ml hot water


• 1 tsp salt


• black pepper to taste


• 50ml olive oil


• fresh parsley


• dried oregano

Set your oven to 225 degrees Celsius. Slice (unpeeled) potatoes and zucchini into thin slices. Set them in an oven-proof baking dish. Chop onion, red pepper, and garlic and sprinkle over the potatoes and zucchini. Cut tomatoes into cubes and place on top, and add pepper and herbs (if using). Combine salt with hot water so that it dissolves, then add oil, and pour evenly on the vegetables. Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes, then reduce heat to 175 degrees, and bake 30 minutes more, or until the vegetables are tender. You may have to add some water in the meantime - check every once in a while!

Even small kids can do most of the slicing and chopping, and it’s fun! Except for the onion - that might be a bit trickier.

P.S. This blog already proved its usefulness: while I was having fun in Zurich, my hubby and 8-year-old son had done sushi themselves - they had looked up the recipe in my blog!