I am often asked to share tricks to get kids to eat a wider selection of foods. Of these requests, dinnertime is often the greatest point of conflict. I advocate preparing a single family dinner, as opposed to cooking additional “kid food” with the main meal. I admire the patience of my colleagues who present foods in adorable ways to entice picky eaters to take a bite. However, my approach is more along the lines of, “Here’s the food. I’ll enjoy it even if you don’t.” I am a mean mommy.
Sarcasm aside, I do have suggestions for presenting a meal that will entice the entire family. Luckily, I have to admit, my kids don’t provide a lot of opportunity to test these methods.
When introducing new (or previously disliked) foods I have a few ways to ease the resistance.
First, make sure other parts of the meal are familiar. For instance, the recipe I have for you today features baked salmon with kale-walnut pesto. I paired the pesto with salmon because our family loves fish. I, not so sneakily, used the salmon as leverage to entice my kiddos to eat the kale pesto.
Second, I share reasons to love the food we eat. I preach mindful eating. It is a skill that has helped me lose and keep off unhealthy weight. I want my kids to learn the same skills. When they start to curl their lips at a mystery food I get excited. “Of course you want to eat lentils! They are full of iron and protein. Iron and protein will make your muscles strong like Batman!” I then list the spices I used or ask the kids to point out familiar ingredients. The suspicious food becomes the center of a game. Even if they only poke at it the first time, the impression will be positive and carry over to future meals.
A few years ago, perhaps before I had my own children, I read an article comparing the eating habits of children whose parents smiled while they ate vegetables to children whose parents grimaced, said it was something they had to do, or apologized to their kids for the food. Guess which kids were more inclined to eat their peas?
Third, I offer the same foods in a variety of ways. Today might be cooked, next week raw or blended in a soup. I also change up the seasonings. Liking food is not a black and white situation. You might enjoy tomatoes in a salad but slide them to the side of your plate if they are cooked. I think kids get to make the same choice but only after they have had several experiences with an ingredient.
The texture of food is a big deal for all eaters and especially for kids. If a food feels unpleasant, kids aren’t going to eat it — period. I can hardly blame them. I have a hard time with super slimy or dry foods.
My oldest likes quite a lot of vegetables but over and over he avoids raw leafy greens like lettuce, kale and cabbage. I am fairly sure his issue is the texture of these sometimes tough leaves. One of the ways I have narrowed his dislike down to texture is by serving these same foods in other ways, most recently kale pesto.
You may be familiar with pesto made from basil but the technique of creating a flavorful paste with olive oil and other elements works for a variety of herbs as well as leafy greens. Pesto is extremely flavorful and a little can go a long way. Some of my favorite ways to serve pesto are pizza sauce, spread on toast with diced tomatoes (bruschetta), tossed with pasta or stirred into roasted vegetables.
Kids who would otherwise turn their nose up at a salad of the same ingredients will ask for seconds, even thirds if you put that salad into a blender. It certainly had that effect on my kids. As I mentioned, they already love salmon. Even with a smear of green paste they dug in and enjoyed the fish. Now that the flavor of kale has become an enjoyable experience, the texture will be easier to overcome.
Kale-walnut pesto
Serve nutritious kale to unsuspecting diners by turning it into a flavor-packed pesto. An easy, year round, alternative to basil pesto that is ready in minutes.
½ cup (40 grams) walnut halves
½ cup Parmesan Cheese, shredded
3-6 garlic cloves
8 ounces (½ bunch) kale, stems removed &leaves torn into small pieces
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ cup olive oil
In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the walnuts, cheese, and garlic until they become a coarse mixture. Add the kale — pulse as needed to make room for all the kale. Pour over the lemon juice and add the salt and pepper.
Cover and begin blending. While the ingredients blend, pour the olive oil in a steady stream into the food processor through the food chute.
Continue blending until the ingredients become a coarse paste — about 1 minute.
Serve immediately or cover and store in the refrigerator or freezer.
Prep time: 15 minutes. Yield: 24 servings.
Amount per serving: 1 tablespoon.
Approximate nutrition per serving: 61 calories, 6g fat, 1g sat fat, 79mg sodium, 1g carbohydrates, .3g fiber, .2g sugar, 1g protein
Baked salmon with kale-walnut pesto
A wonderfully forgiving way to cook salmon. A coating of pesto over the baked salmon ensures the fish will be moist, beautiful and full of flavor every time.
1 pound (4 portions) of fresh salmon, sockeye recommended
4 tablespoons kale-walnut pesto (above)
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the salmon portions on the parchment skin side down. Spread pesto evenly over each portion of fish then bake 10-12 minutes until the fish is tender and flakey.
Let the fish rest a minute or two before serving hot.
Prep time: 10 minutes. Cook time 12 minutes.
Yield: 4 servings.
Approximate nutrition: 210 calories, 11g fat, 2g sat fat, 167mg sodium, 1g carbohydrate, .3g fiber, .2g sugar, 26g protein
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