Asparagus risotto

I'm not sure that I spelled risotto right...we actually all this asparagus rice.  I'll give you the recipe first, and then tell you about it:

1 bunch asparagus, cut into bite-sized pieces
3 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon onion powder (or you could use a real onion if you want)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups minute rice
1 can chicken broth
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (not the grated kind that you put on spaghetti)

Melt the butter with the olive oil.  Add the onion powder and garlic and let it cook for a minute or two.  Add the rice and stir it around to coat it.  Add the milk, broth and asparagus and bring it to a boil over medium heat.  Turn down the heat and let it simmer for about five minutes.  Stir in about 1/2 cup Parmesan.

We used to make this a lot when we were first married.  Then my husband asked me if I would be offended if he told me that he doesn't like it very much.  So I hadn't made it for a few years.  Then I got pregnant and started really wanting asparagus.  BUT...to make it an even better situation, I realized that I wasn't prepping the asparagus correctly.  Apparently, if you grab the bottom part of the asparagus and bend it, it will snap off.  You're supposed to throw the short, bottom piece away.  I hadn't been doing that and we'd been eating something gross that we weren't supposed to be eating.  It's much more palatable the new way.   The asparagus also looks fancy if you cut it on an angle.  Here's the problem, though.  My kids aren't doing so well with the asparagus.  Even my two year old is spitting it out and saying that it's yucky and we've had it several times.  So I'm thinking about switching out the vegetable.  Maybe broccoli?  They'll eat that.  Or maybe, instead of switching it out completely, just adding a couple of different kinds and then letting them choose one or two of the vegetables and picking the one of them out.  We'll see.  The rice is so cheesy and tasty and yummy that I hate to give up this recipe because my kids aren't fans of the vegetable.