Fooled him into eating the dreaded BROCCOLI!!

[Sabauda]

Well, not entirely eating it....but ingesting a bit anyway:
Here in italy I've learned to love a dish called "pasta con broccoli" - basically, broccoli cooked with pasta, but the trick is you boil the broccoli quite a bit, then put the pasta in so it cooks in the broccoli water and the result is wonderfully flavored pasta. Once drained, it's lightly tossed in garlic

Our Senegal really loves his pasta, especially whole wheat, and especially with some garlic, but sure does NOT like broccoli or anything resembling a green vegetable. It's a struggle. This pasta, however, he eats greedily. I am thinking he is getting at least some of the good vitamins and minerals from the broccoli.....

[Sashagirl]

Sabauda

Try cooking it different consistancy and that may help your Senegal eat the differnt foods.That's what I have to do with Sydney my Senegal.Yes you have
to fool them into eating different foods.Try cooked,raw,and cut in different sizes they think they have gold.Good luck.

Marcia

[ccg]

Can you send me the recipe? It sounds good!

And to comment on the post, my conures prefer veggies that are still warm, they'll eat them better then if they were cold or not cooked.

[Sabauda]

OK here's the recipe....PLEASE MODIFY the amounts of olive oil, salt, and garlic if you are giving this to your bird.....

Pasta con i Broccoli:

You can use traditional broccoli or broccoli rape, sometime called broccoli rabe outside of italy.

Boil it in well salted water (AGAIN - if this is for your bird.....NO SALT....add it later when it's on your plate!)

After it has boiled for a while - getting tender- add the pasta. Cook until the pasta is done, then drain the pasta and broccoli together.

In a separate pan, saute some garlic in olive oil until it is browned. (Very little if it's for your FID!) Toss in the pasta and broccoli and cook for a minute. You can add parmesan cheese - but NO PARMESAN FOR THE BIRD!!

Instead of cheese you can sprinkle toasted breadcrumbs over the pasta - which is a better solution if you are sharing with your Bird!

enjoy! and please note: you can do practically the same thing with cauliflower.

[dancelady]

Why no parmesan cheese for the bird? I give my birds light cheese all the time. This sounds very good, and without the salt. Can you then cut up the broccoli very fine and serve it with the pasta so the birds will eat it?

[Sabauda]

In my opinion, parmesan is too salty for them. Yes you CAN cut up the broccoli...mine won't touch it....I encourage you to try.....and I do keep trying...!!

[Pepper's Pa]

It’s a shame You-You won’t eat broccoli. Pepper has the florets from one or two broccoli stalks nearly every night as part of his dinner. I get the biggest laugh when he lifts his head out of his food bowl and his beak is covered with bits of broccoli.
I know what you mean about pasta and “he eats greedily”. Pepper is a carbohydrateholic . . . if there’s a food high in carbohydrates in his bowl, he almost always eats it first.
Does your pasta turn slightly green from being cooked in the “broccoli water”?
Thanks for sharing your cooking method.