If your kids are anything like mine, you are probably nursing at least one medium-sized ulcer, trying to get them to eat their veggies. For years now, my kids and I have been having this migraine-inducing discussion on whether tomatoes are a fruit or a vegetable. How about onions? They DO come in sweet varieties. Surely they could pass for a fruit? That was a harder sell. Sometime, this past year, I quit the discussion. I had already decided that a lot of the items on their veggie list were fruit in mine. Zuccini, squash, pumpkin, beets, carrots, bell peppers… definitely fruit. End of discussion. Getting them to eat these without a concerted effort to disguise them was more fun than I had expected. They’d begin the meal with a quiz: “Mom, come clean. What veggies are in our meal this evening?” Since, a lot of the “veggies” qualified as fruit in my book, my answer was always “none”.  That made them happy; they probably figured they had me beat. This recipe is one of many to follow that uses fruit to  mask the veggies. Sweet spices such as cinnamon, cloves, anise and cardamom often deflect the raw flavors of some vegetables.

Spicy Mango and Pumpkin Bread with Cardamom

In a large blender, beat the following:

3 eggs
1 cup honey
1 cup veg. oil or canola oil
1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup each of

Pumpkin (puree or canned)
Mango (puree or canned)

You will also need 1 1/2 cups of two of the following veggies and fruit, finely grated

Green zucchini
Pear
Apple or applesauce
Crushed pineapple (or canned)
Yellow, orange or red carrots
Beets

In a large bowl, sift the following

3 Cups flour (whole wheat or all
purpose)
1 tsp ground cardamom pods
1 tsp nutmeg (optional)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt

Optional

1 cup chopped, roasted pecan, walnut or pistachio

Mix all the ingredients. Bake at 350 in greased, floured loaf pans for 50 minutes to 1 hour. Check for doneness
at 45 minutes. When completely cooled (about 2 hours) frost the top of the bread with white icing.

Icing

1 cup powdered sugar
4 drops of whole milk

Whisk until frosting is smooth and shiny. Frost the tops of the breads. Breads can be stored for up to a week
in the fridge.