Skip to Main Content

More Veggies Please!

Easy Kid-Approved Meals and Family-Friendly Comfort Foods with Surprising Veggie Twists

By Nikki Dinki
Published by BenBella Books
Distributed by Simon & Schuster

About The Book
NATIONAL INDIE EXCELLENCE AWARDS FINALIST — COOKBOOKS: GENERAL

Looking for ways to get your kids to eat more veggies?

Packed with creative recipes, this modern approach to classic family comfort foods ups the nutritional ante—infusing TONS of healthful vegetables into every dish (even snacks and desserts!)—while always putting flavor first.

As a chef and cookbook author, Nikki Dinki loves veggies. But like most parents, getting her kids to love them is a work in progress. There will always be a side of veggies on their dinner plates, but when those veggies go untouched, Nikki doesn’t stress. That’s because her cooking incorporates vegetables at every turn: the kids may not have eaten their sides of peas, but they ate cauliflower and sweet potatoes in their Mac and Cheese, devoured Green Eggs (with spinach) and White Bean Pancakes for breakfast, and asked for seconds of the Zucchini Crust Pizzas at lunch!

Although the veggies are sometimes hidden—your kids will be eating mushrooms and eggplant without thinking twice!—the real goal is using the qualities of each vegetable to make each classic, family meals even better than the original version. In these recipes, mushrooms enhance the beefy taste of the Mushroom and Onion Burgers, while eggplant replaces egg for breading on Chicken Tenders and Chicken Parmesan, which keeps them irresistibly moist.

Inside, discover other delicious recipes that will become mealtime staples, including:

  • Chicken Pot Pie with Sweet Potato Crust

  • Cauliflower + Yogurt Bagels

  • Eggplant Parm Meatballs

  • Pumpkin Pasta Dough

  • Taco Meat (with Pinto Beans)

  • Mac and Cheese with Caulilfower + Sweet Potato

  • Chicken Nuggets with Beans + Carrots

  • Creamed Spinach Garlic Bread

  • Loaded Queso (with Squash)

  • Banana Carrot Oat Muffins

  • Eggplant Marinara Sauce

  • Brooklyn Blackout Cake (with Beets + Avocado)

  • Sweet Potato Cinnamon Rolls

    But fear not: there are no fancy ingredients or complicated cooking techniques. These easy, accessible recipes have been tested hundreds of times, by Nikki and other parents, for surefire family food wins! This collection of tried-and-true dishes will wow picky eaters and foodie parents alike with creative veggie twists on breakfasts, lunches, dinners, snacks, sides, and dessert.

    • About The Author
    Nikki Dinki

    Nikki Dinki is a chef, author, mom, TV host and picky-eater-turned-veggie-lover who is spreading the delicious veggie word! You can flip through her award-winning first book, Meat On The Side, follow her food-driven adventures and unique creations on multiple Food Network and Cooking Channel series, and watch her share recipes regularly on the Wendy Williams and Dr. Oz shows. She also candidly reveals her successes and struggles of navigating three kids (including a set of twins!) and offers up more tasty veggie-focused recipes on social media and NikkiDinkiCooking.com.

    Product Details
    • Publisher: BenBella Books (December 10, 2021)
    • Length: 288 pages
    • ISBN13: 9781953295569

    Browse Related Books

    Raves and Reviews

    """Nikki Dinki was way ahead of the vegetable forward meal trend long before most of us saw it coming. I've tasted her cooking first hand and can attest to her plant based skills. Nikki helped usher in the wave, now we all can ride it with her new book, More Veggies Please!""
    —Bobby Flay

    ""More Veggies Please! is a total game-changer. Prepare to be blown away by this comfort food with a veggie soul.""
    —Damaris Phillips, chef and television host

    ""The longer I've been cooking, the more I am changing how my plate looks.My meat portions are getting smaller, and I need fresh ideas to bring vegetables to the center of the plate. This book will help me do that!""
    —Jet Tila, celebrity chef and restaurateur

    ""Nikki's the mom you wish you had making your meals! More Veggie's Please takes some of your favorite family recipes like Mac and cheese, meatloaf and peanut butter cookies and finds ways to add vegetables in a creative way. Everything is super simple for the weekday, but still feels like a dinner party-payoff! This is family food amped up with fun, flavor and personality in only the way Nikki can do.""
    —Catherine McCord, author and founder of Weelicious

    ""Black bean brownies? Sounds like I have some fudgy deliciousness in my future.""
    —Duff Goldman, author of Super Good Baking for Kids

    ""As we are both alumni of Food Network Star, it didn't take long for Nikki's delightful energy and personality (which drips from these very pages) to pop up on my radar. I knew Nikki had something that a lot of cooks don't have—the power to see an ingredient but not its 'constraints.' In the hands of Nikki, sweet potatoes become pie crust. Zucchini can be dill pickles. Cauliflower isn't just rice, it's risotto. It's this sort of magic that makes this book a great source of inspiration for cooks of all abilities and (even the pickiest) palates.""
    —Justin Warner, chef

    ""This book is truly a parent's best friend. As a parent to two young children, I'm always wondering how I can sneak more veggies onto their plate. Nikki did all the thinking and testing for us! From cauliflower in scrambled eggs, zucchini in French toast, squash in tortillas, spinach in pasta, and sweet potatoes in cinnamon rolls, this is a book I will use over and over again when I want to make sure our family is enjoying as many veggies as possible.""
    —Cassy Joy Garcia, bestselling author and creator offedandfit.com"

    Resources and Downloads

    High Resolution Images

    More Veggies Please!

    Easy Kid-Approved Meals and Family-Friendly Comfort Foods with Surprising Veggie Twists

    By Nikki Dinki
    Published by BenBella Books
    Distributed by Simon & Schuster