Cooking with Your Kids! Easy, Gourmet Recipes to Make Together
Cooking with children, no matter their age, can be very simple and will have a big impact on their relationship with food well into adulthood.
Recipes don’t need to be complex for children to feel like they are contributing to meal preparation. To minimize mess and maximize experience, I like to focus on fruit and vegetable-based dishes with my little ones. This way, I don't have to worry about food safety concerns that come along with touching raw eggs or meat.
When cooking and chopping any produce at home, include children by finding a role in the preparation, such as tearing lettuce and herbs, or even assembling a simple fruit salad. These “recipes” are perfect because children can taste the raw ingredients while they assemble the dish. Tasting while they cook is an amazing opportunity to broaden their palate for tastes and textures in a fun and engaging activity.
For example, to make a simple salad dressing, a child can pour the oil, vinegar and spices into a mason jar and then shake their ingredients into a fresh, seriously delicious salad dressing. This is a worthy life skill that most adults would be proud to accomplish. While preparing, encourage them to taste olive oil off their finger and really experience this taste, and so on with each ingredient. You could even include herbs from the yard and get their involvement by picking them together.
Again, if they want to taste as they cook, let them. You will not regret giving them this freedom since you are developing not only their sense of significance in the family but also their tastes and preferences for healthy foods.
Kid-Friendly Salad Dressing
All you need to make this recipe “kid-friendly” is a jar with a lid. This is a straightforward recipe that is simple and easy for a child to make. For younger children, simply give them the role of shaking the jar. Older children can pour the ingredients into the jar themselves and also do the shaking. Think forward a few years and being able to ask your child to make the salad dressing for dinner and for them to whip up a gourmet dressing all by themselves! It is so possible!
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup olive oil or another neutral vegetable oil such as avocado or grapeseed oil
- 2 tbsp preferred acid, such as lemon juice or red wine vinegar
- 1/2 tbsp of dijon or whole grain mustard
- salt and pepper
- herbs of choice, granulated garlic or granulated onion (optional)
Directions: place all ingredients into a jar and shake vigorously. Taste and season as desired.
Kid-Friendly Roasted Cauliflower
This is another delicious and impressive recipe that is perfect for involving the kiddos.
Ingredients:
- 1-2 whole heads of cauliflower
- 2 tbsp neutral vegetable oil such as avocado or grapeseed
- salt and pepper
Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rinse whole cauliflower and then seat child at a table with a large bowl and show them how to tear the vegetable into small florets and place them in bowl. Continue until all the cauliflower is in bite-sized pieces. Then (adult or child) drizzle cauliflower with oil, season with salt and pepper and toss with clean hands. Place cauliflower on a cookie sheet and roast for about 20-25 minutes.
