Hellobee Boards

We love green beans done this way (we add a little parmesan cheese, too). My DD (6 yo and rather picky eater) asked for two giant helpings yesterday. Only takes 8 minutes to cook and a couple minutes to prep.
https://www.primaverakitchen.com/how-to-make-crispy-roasted-green-beans/

I will also glaze baby carrots in a little butter, brown sugar, and a dash of ginger.

For a main, I like these zucchini enchiladas. I don't make my own enchilada sauce - I buy it from Trader Joe's.
https://www.skinnytaste.com/cheesy-zucchini-enchiladas/

Mind you, my 2 yo won't eat any of these...but he won't eat any veggies so he doesn't count.

My family adores baked parmesan squash (or zucchini). The kids love the golden-crispy parmesan and forget that they are eating veggies. We have even tried parmesan-baking both eggplant and broccoli (because they are KETO-friendly for my anti-seizure diet) and both were a success!
The closest recipe I could find to how I parmesan bake is included in the following link: https://www.fivehearthome.com/baked-parmesan-yelllow-squash-rounds-recipe/ .
Honestly, coating any veggie with cheese (or flour - white, panko, rice, almond, etc) will make mundane veggies FAR more exciting for kids.
Also "French fry slicing," seasoning and baking them (potato fries, sweet potato, broccoli, pickles/cucumber, eggplant and zucchini) makes them more appealing ... especially with a side of "dip" (ranch, bleu cheese, Italian, low sugar ketchup, aioli sauce, homemade cheese dips, guacamole or low sugar bbq).
Oooh, final idea - we do fruit smoothies and I stealthily add spinach, cucumber, and/or pumpkin to our "treats." The kiddos LOVE them and do not know the difference.

Basically my kids will only eat tomato sauce or sliced raw cucumbers, so I’m following this for ideas!

Broccoli Pesto on noodles or as pizza sauce

Grape tomatoes (raw or roasted)

Baby carrots with hummus

Chopped spinach (the frozen block) with couscous or quinoa sprinkled with feta

Cinnamon roasted baby carrots

DS would never eat any slow cooked vegetables and how I wish he does, so I hear you!

So far steamed green beans and broccoli are good with us. Not FAVORITE (well, no greens is favorite) but DS would eat. Strangely DS won't eat roasted asparagus but he would eat them steamed (ack) but it's A-ok. Then he eats salad made of spinach and/or lettuce, baby greens too. Again, not favorite, but he'd eat them.

DH and I do eat a lot of salad though. Very often my main course is a big salad with protein. So it is built in for DS that eating salad is very normal as that's all I eat a lot of times lol

He would also eat raw carrot sticks. Not by a lot but he would eat them.

Have you tried kale chips? There are a ton of recipe online how to make oven-roasted kale chips and DS loves them. Kale is a unicorn vegetable that it will not lose its nutrients no matter how you cook it, or so I heard, so it is a win-win!

ETA: And CORN! How can I forget about corn? That is indeed DS' favorite, I can count of him eating boiled corn-on-the-cob. But then corn is not "leafy greens".

Oh my kids also love frozen peas. Like still frozen. They inhale it. So weird. Haha

DD devours these two "fry" recipes:
https://meljoulwan.com/2015/06/01/herb-parsnip-fries/
http://www.thedefineddish.com/zucchini-fries/

She really likes this whole recipe, including the veggies. The dipping sauce makes it fun!
http://www.thedefineddish.com/hibachi-style-chicken-with-magic-mustard-sauce/

Like others have posted anything shaped like a fry is more fun in her eyes, so we rotate the two recipes above with sweet potatoes and occasionally white potatoes. She LOVES frozen peas which I think is weird but whatever. Sometimes we just have cut up cucumbers, peppers, carrots, and tomatoes as a side, it's not very exciting but she will almost always eat them.

Whenever DD has a smoothie I put frozen cauliflower in it - you can't taste it and it makes it really thick and creamy. So good!

@Foodnerd81: I mostly made it up but roughly: I make a roux of 2-3 tbsp butter and same amount flour, whisk May be 2-3 cups milk in and heat until thick. Add 2 ish big handfuls of cheese and season with onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Cook quinoa according to directions (whole box...I think it makes like 3-4 cups?). In a big baking dish, mix quinoa, frozen florets or whatever veg, shredded chicken from a rotisserie chicken, and the cheese sauce. Top with panko and bake at 375 for 30 mins.

Totally forgot until someone else mentioned but puréed soups are always a big hit too. I make in the instapot and purée with a hand mixer after. I can make it in about 45 mins on a weeknight and it makes a tonne. I let my son have some goldfish in it so he eats it up. Broccoli, carrot and cheddar; sweet potato, red pepper, carrot are my usuals.

My oldest will pretty much eat anything but my youngest is pickier. I’ve found the only way to get her to eat things is to just keep putting it on her plate over and over and over again. Eventually she will at least try it. Literally I have put carrots on her plate for at least two years and last night she finally ate them.

Otherwise their favourite veggies are snap peas, bell peppers (my oldest eats them like apples... weird), sweet potatoes, butternut squash and cucumbers.

I can put pretty much anything in a smoothie (spinach, kale etc) and even my fussy younger DD will devour it.

@Foodnerd81: oh do they have a favourite dip? my 2.5 year old doesn’t love veggies but will eat a lot of raw veg dipped in ranch. And even likes Cesar salad.

@Mrs. Champagne: my kids love frozen peas too! And frozen corn! They will keep asking me for more like it’s a treat and I’m like...ooooh I GUESS you can have another bowl full...

@Foodnerd81: My DD has a big mouth [for her displeasure] at the table and her opinions influence her her brother (* He looks up to her and copies everything). We were having the same issue as you have with your 5 and 3 year old. In order to temper my DD as she rudely states, "I didn't want the meat today" or "I don't like the jelly on my peanut butter and jelly sandwich...", DH & I have made a rule for nice words only at the table - no complaints, only compliments. Effectively, it has worked (and is a bit funny to listen to DD try a compliment items she REALLY wants to complain over!). We also have a 3-item list rule. My children are each allowed 3 items that I will not feed them since they added it to an "ick"list (* posted on the fridge). If I serve something one doesn't like, he/she can remove one of the 3 items on the list to add the new item BUT only after eating the item at the meal! An example: DD has coleslaw, mac-n-cheese (weird kid!), and pepper Jack cheese on her current list. If I serve brown sugar carrots and she dislikes them, she must eat them (with no complaints) first before taking the cheese off of the list to put the carrots on. All bets are off for whether or not I may serve the item that came off the list (although if I know a child REALLY doesn't like something, I do try to avoid it as I'm not cruel!). The list has worked amazingly well for both kids and the compliment rule has worked to keep both kids eating what is served with little issue.
Good luck and I hope my suggestions help.

It's posts like these that make me feel like I'm failing as a mom..., for veggies my son eats like carrots and hummus and cucumbers, occasionally 3 bites of steamed asparagus and broccoli and... That's it. 🙄

@pachamama: Awww, you are in no way a failure. Kids are just picky and some have sensitive tastebuds (or are "supertasters"). Many also have issues with texture which is why a child may love raw veggies versus steamed (crispy versus soft/mushy and vice versa). All one can do is offer a variety of things for children to "try" in an effort to immerse their senses into and/or to make modifications of favorites to add nutritional variety (smoothies with veggies snuck in, mashed potatoes with blended cauliflower, carrots, or broccoli added in, etc.) Your child's tastes is in no way reflective of how you are as a parent.

What about mixing grated carrots into mashed potatoes? Not the matchstick carrots you buy already cut, but grate them on a box grater so that they're ultra thin. Matchstick ones would be crunchy still. Basically just looks like shredded Cheddar cheese when you're done!

When I was a kid, we loved broccoli or peas mixed into alfredo pasta dishes.

@pachamama: definitely don’t feel like a failure! When I say my kid eats these things, it’s usually a bite or two not like he’s scarfing down salads and veggies at all meals. Sometimes he hates it all and won’t eat anything even stuff he likes ! But I don’t care anymore now he’s older. I just keep putting the stuff on his plate and whatever.

@pachamama: My older son eats everything but my younger one eats no veggie. Literally none. I've given up. Actually, the only way I've ever seen him eat a veggie is in a spinach muffin or a carrot pancake. Otherwise, huge tantrums. I've given up.

@Foodnerd81: My 4.5yo is still better than most with veggies, but his interest has definitely declined. I think that starting school has been part of the problem. I think he might hear other kids say things like “I don’t like broccoli” and he then gets it in his head. He’s SUCH a followe and repeater, it’s going to be a problem as he gets older. He’s always loved broccoli but now he’ll say he doesn’t like it and it was practically over night.

Have you tried edamame in the pods? He loves that. It’s fun to squeeze them out. I just buy frozen and steam then sprinkle with salt.

And I chop up veggies to put in spaghetti sauce. Spinach and zucchini both work well becuase they resemble the basil specks of green that are already there.

And tbh I don’t think raw cucumber and carrots is a bad thing. If they are eating those well, you aren’t in a bad spot at all.

Oh and mini sweet peppers. My 4.5yo loves those.