Here’s a mostly complete list of what my children, ages 5 and 7, eat for dinner:
Plain pasta (spaghetti and farfalle only), rice and beans (any kind but lima), chicken (roasted thighs, nuggets), salmon, avocado rolls, hot dogs, pizza, slices of steak. They do eat some green vegetables, but they don’t do tacos, meatballs, dumplings, baked saucy dishes or, really, sauce of any kind. Soup, as an entire category, is a no.
My older kid is the far more adventurous of the two, and you can count on her to actually taste new things, though I still can’t convince her to try lasagna. (Lasagna!)
I know I’m opening the door here for some unsolicited parenting advice, and that I’ll receive at least one email from someone whose children absolutely love brussels sprouts. It comes with the territory whenever you bring up kids and food. But I’ve been asked a few times lately what mine eat, and the hopefully reassuring reality is that they don’t eat everything under the sun, even though their mom is the Food editor at The New York Times. My professional life hasn’t instilled in them a love of capers or a yearning for minestrone (at least not yet).
Last week I got an email from a reader named Elly asking for fast meals “with a slant toward kid-friendly.” No problem, Elly! The five recipes below are dishes that my own children like, with simple modifications. A tip if you’re just getting started cooking for kids: It really helps to have a few basics down, which make it easy to get dinner on the table — things like seared boneless chicken thighs, microwave salmon, baked sweet potatoes and lemony steamed broccoli.
And if you aren’t cooking for kids, I think you’ll still find something to make below — these are great recipes for anyone at any age.
Thoughts? Suggestions? Email me at [email protected]. I’m here! And a bonus: My mom just made these chewy sugar cookies with my kids. An A+ recipe.
1. Mojo Chicken With Pineapple
I got two beautiful Hawaiian pineapples as a Christmas gift this year (an amazing present, better than pears!) and I used half of one to make this excellent dinner from Ali Slagle. I left the jalapeño out of the marinade, but sliced up a pepper for my husband and me to add to our chicken at the table. One kid ate the broiled fruit and loved it; the other would have sooner perished.
2. Sesame Salmon Bowls
Such a great recipe from Kay Chun, with a simple and smart cooking technique. Customize the veggies for each person at the table, if you like, and omit the vinegar from the rice for picky kids.
3. Vegan Coconut-Ginger Black Beans
Another great Ali recipe, this creamy pot of beans gets a punch of flavor from ginger and uses canned black beans for busy-parents ease. (Another legume option my kids love: dal.)
4. Pasta With Brown Butter and Parmesan
When I’m really feeling kindly toward my kids I go the extra mile to make their butter-and-cheese pasta a little nicer than the usual drained pasta tossed with a pat of butter. This recipe from Ali is perfect for that.
5. Grilled (or Broiled) Steak With Sauce Rof
I cook steak only when friends are over or when I’m feeling as if we deserve a treat, even if it’s just for making it through the week. I’ll give the kids plain steak, no sauce, and then for the adults I’ll make an accompaniment like chimichurri or the scallion-chile green sauce in this great recipe from Yewande Komolafe. (To cook this in the oven, heat the broiler to high and cook the steak until it’s charred and you’ve reached your desired level of doneness, two to five minutes per side.)
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