If asparagus isn’t on your kids’ list of approved foods (it could be!), try a bridge ingredient to help them warm up to those in-season stalks. That means, serve asparagus with another favorite food or flavor, or prepare it using a technique you know they like. Find out how to pair asparagus with bacon, lemon, Parmesan cheese and more.

Ina Garten’s Roasted Asparagus (pictured above): Roasted vegetables are always a hit with my four kids, so it’s a no-brainer that we’d try Ina’s fan-favorite recipe for asparagus.

Steamed Asparagus & Peas with Lemon & Parmesan: Our toddler loves asparagus while the baby prefers peas. Why not combine the ingredients and top them with flavors that both of the little ones love?

Trisha Yearwood’s Asparagus Bundles (pictured above): This isn’t just bacon wrapped around asparagus. We’re talking about bacon coated in a sweet and salty sauce of butter, brown sugar, soy sauce and garlic salt — flavors kids love.

Risotto with Asparagus: It's pretty easy to get most kids to eat rice. This risotto (pictured above) from Food Network Magazine gets dressed up with Parmesan cheese and gently steamed asparagus spears.

Asparagus Pizza with Ricotta and Lemon: Do your kids like pizza? How about making it at home? This one’s great for a side or a simple supper, even if you make a second pizza topped with good ol’ pepperoni. With all that stretching and slathering making pizza requires, there’s an easy task for every cook.

Giada De Laurentiis' Frittata with Asparagus, Tomato and Fontina (pictured above): Eggs are the easiest, both to make and to get kids to eat, so adding asparagus is a low-risk way to introduce spring’s most-delicious vegetable.

Spring Asparagus Tart (pictured above): Puff pastry, best known for appearing at dessert, makes a delicious bed for mascarpone, fresh herbs and long spears of asparagus.

Grilled Asparagus: Since the kids know the grill as the place where hot dogs come from, grilled asparagus spears already have a good reputation.

And if all else fails, get the kids to help with prep, which always makes them more eager to eat later on. Snapping asparagus is so easy and straightforward, even the smallest of sous chefs can help.

Charity Curley Mathews blogs about kid-tested recipes and practical tips for young families at Foodlets.com: Mini Foodies in the Making…Maybe.