4 Simple Meals to Cook With Your Kids
October 17, 2011, By Peter Chianca 0 comments
Cooking for your kids is one thing, but cooking with your kids is the true test of whether or not you’ve mastered the art of culinary calm. The trick is to prepare meals that will keep them interested—but not so interested that they’ll turn your kitchen upside down in their quest to emulate Emeril.
Try these easy options when you want to get the whole family involved in putting food on the table.
Calzones
The key to a fun family cooking experience is having a lot of ingredients that kids can add themselves—but better if they don’t involve a lot of grinding, stirring or (heaven forbid) chopping. Rolling out some pizza dough gives you the perfect palette for adding whole slices of pepperoni, salami and hot ham, or for the vegetarians in the house, peppers, broccoli and spinach. And rolling it into a calzone makes it more interesting than plain old pizza. That's My Home has a great collection of calzone recipes, but don’t be afraid to swap the homemade dough for store-bought if you’re pressed for time.
Spaghetti Aglio e Olio
(Spaghetti with Garlic, Oil and Mushrooms)
It sounds fancy, and it’s fun for kids to try to pronounce, but super-easy to make. And for family members with short attention spans (and an Internet-fueled need for immediate gratification), it comes together a lot faster than a homemade sauce that has to simmer all day. Older kids can be careful enough to add the mushrooms to the oil in the version below; the younger ones can stick to the salt, red pepper and parsley.
In a frying pan, heat 1/2 cup olive oil over medium-low heat. Add two cloves of chopped garlic and 1/8 teaspoon of red pepper flakes and sauté, stirring about one minute. Add 2/3 pound sliced mushrooms and 1 teaspoon salt and sauté until mushrooms brown, about five minutes. Toss with one pound spaghetti, three tablespoons parsley and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
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