It's the rare diner who turns down an ear of sweet corn or a salad made with veggies picked fresh from a summer garden. Making sure your kids (and spouse) eat the daily recommended servings of fruit and vegetables the rest of the year, however, can prove a daunting task, especially if you venture beyond standard favorites such as carrots, apples and bananas. As far as getting them to go vegetarian? Well, that's a different battle entirely. Only the most adventurous child will try something as foreign as that silken, strangely cream cheese-like food known as tofu, or soybean curd, a common ingredient in vegetarian dishes.

	Bill Wade, Post-Gazette Spicy Peanut Wrap is loaded with peanut butter, greens, cucumber and raisins. Click photo for larger image. Related article Recipes for vegetarian vitality

OK. Maybe it's unrealistic to think that your meat-eating family will give up their beloved burgers and chicken for a diet that includes only foods from plants, such as fruits, vegetables, legumes (dried beans and peas), grains, seeds and nuts. Yet if you opt for a lactovegetarian diet, which allows for cheese and other dairy products in addition to plant foods, or an ovolactovegetarian diet, which also includes eggs, you just might have a chance.

Change, of course, is never easy. And when you consider the fact that some vegetarian dishes can actually cost you more than one that's built around hamburger or chicken breasts, especially if you buy organic or choose recipes that focus on exotic or out-of-season produce, it's harder still. But it's not as if you have to abandon meat or poultry forever. Get your feet wet by trying just a couple of meat-free meals a week: a lunch here, a light supper there, a snack after basketball or gymnastics practice.

There's certainly plenty of good reasons to make the effort, and not just because you made a resolution to try something different this year. Provided you choose dishes that assure an adequate intake of certain nutrients (protein, calcium, vitamins D and B12, and iron) you'll be introducing your family to a more healthful way of eating. A vegetarian diet tends to be lower in saturated fat and cholesterol as well as high in fiber, and it often results in lower blood cholesterol levels. A well-planned vegetarian diet will also be high in folic acid and antioxidants, which play a role in staying healthy. Some studies have also shown that vegetarians suffer less from many of the medical conditions associated with the typical Western diet, including heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity, Type 2 diabetes, gallbladder disease and kidney stones, osteoporosis and even certain cancers. And who doesn't want to live a longer, healthier life?

Perhaps you've got good genes and aren't so concerned about the health benefits of a vegetarian diet. Then consider this: Not only will focusing on fruits and veggies improve your skills as a cook, but also it will improve your palate.

"It makes you appreciate what you can do with food to get the flavor that meat usually provides," says Jill MacDowell, owner of The Quiet Storm, a vegetarian coffeehouse and restaurant in Garfield.

And because many vegetarian dishes are identified with an ethnic cuisine, such as Asian, Indian, Middle Eastern or Mexican -- it allows you to become an armchair traveler of sorts and sample dishes from around the globe.

"You get to explore the world through food," says Ms. MacDowell.

Good enough. But while it might seem as though all you have to do is substitute some good-looking, fresh fruits and vegetables for that piece of meat, a proper vegetarian diet takes some planning; you'll have to make sure you're replacing the nutrients found in animal products. Growing children, for instance, require a certain amount of calories each day, and their calcium needs are also vital, says Cindy Javor, a registered dietitian who works for the Penn State Cooperative Extension. Children also need a reliable source of vitamin B12 and iron.

"And they really need to have a protein, whether is some kind of nuts or seed or fortified soy milk," Ms. Javor says. Another good source is -- sorry, guys! -- the aforementioned tofu, or some kind of meat analogue, such as soy burgers, sausage or frank.

Specific guidelines and diet plans for vegetarian children, which vary depending on the child's age, can be found at pubs.cas.psu.edu (search "publications" for vegetarian children), along with a model of the Vegetarian Food Guide Pyramid developed by New York Medical College. But in general, a school-aged child will need 7 or more servings of grains a day; 3 or more servings or legumes, nuts or seeds; 4 or more servings of vegetables; 3 or more servings of fruits; and 5 servings of fats (a serving is 1 teaspoon).

In planning for the whole family, choose a variety of fruits and vegetables, and whole foods, such as unrefined grains, beans, nuts and seeds. You should also steer clear of highly sweetened or fatty foods.

So how should you get started? If you're cooking for children (and we mean those little people who still have homework and not that big baby at the head of the table who's whining about having to forgo animal protein), it makes sense to build a meal around the things that kids naturally like, such as peanut butter, pasta or mashed potatoes. Lunch might include something as simple as a peanut butter-and-jelly sandwich on whole wheat bread with carrot sticks and a yogurt or something a little more exotic, like the Spicy Peanut Wrap served at The Quiet Storm. This healthful, burrito-like sandwich gets its protein from natural peanut butter, and its raisins are rich in antioxidants as well as a good source of fiber. The Sriracha, made from sun-ripened chiles that are ground into a smooth paste along with garlic, adds just a touch of spice.

Dinner, meanwhile, when everyone expects a more substantial meal, might include cheesy spinach lasagna, burritos made with spicy chili beans and pepper jack cheese, or pizza with mushrooms, olives and red peppers. Or to warm up a chilly winter night, you might consider a big pot of chili or stew -- just substitute black beans for the hamburger. The recipe for Black Bean Stew in the "World Food Cafe," which showcases a variety of vegetarian recipes from all around the world, including Africa, China and Latin America, is particularly flavorful. This fiber- and protein-packed stew, which is an adaptation of a traditional Brazilian dish, marries dried black beans with sweet potatoes, turnips, onions and fresh chiles. And when you top it with spoonful of spicy Caribbean Salsa -- made with fragrant mangoes and green chile for heat -- it's colorful, to boot.