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Cooking with Kids: Healthy Recipes to Make with Your Little Chef
It’s time to put your kids to work – in the kitchen! When kids have a hand in cooking, it makes trying new foods more fun and interesting (and less intimidating). Make cooking a regular activity and you’ll get to spend more time together too! Check out these simple recipes and suggested kid-friendly tasks.
Tomato & Cucumber Salad
(serves: 4)
4 medium ripe tomatoes
1 medium cucumber
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon rice or red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
Dash of salt and pepper
Directions: Dice tomatoes and cucumber and place in large bowl. Add olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper; toss to combine. Sprinkle with chopped basil.
Kid-friendly Tasks:
- Gathering ingredients
- Washing the tomatoes and cucumber,
- Placing each ingredient into the bowl
- Stirring
- Sprinkling basil
Yogurt Berry Parfait
(serves: 2)
1 ½ cups plain fat-free yogurt
½ cup blueberries
½ cup sliced strawberries
½ cup crunchy whole grain cereal (suggested: Kashi Good Friends or Post Grape-Nuts)
Directions: In two tall glasses, alternate layers of yogurt, berries and cereal.
Kid-friendly Tasks:
- Gathering ingredients
- Washing berries
- Measuring berries and cereal
- Layering the ingredients
Veggie Pizza
(serves 4)
1 (12-inch) 100% whole wheat pizza crust or dough rolled out to 12-inch circle
¾ cup tomato sauce
1 ¼ cup shredded low-fat mozzarella cheese
Toppings of your choice: chopped bell pepper, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, mushrooms, shredded carrots
Cooking spray
Directions: Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Place pizza crust on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Spread tomato sauce onto crust, top with cheese and veggies. Bake for approximately 12-14 minutes, until cheese is melted and crust is golden.
Kid-friendly Tasks:
- Gathering ingredients
- Washing vegetables
- Slicing veggies (for older kids)
- Sprinkling cheese and toppings on pizza.
Fruit Salsa
(serves: 8)
1 medium pear, diced
1 mango, diced
1 pint strawberries, diced
2 plums, diced
1 teaspoon honey
Directions: Place fruit in large bowl. Drizzle with honey and toss to combine. Serve with 100% whole wheat pita chips. Alternatively, use as a topping for a green salad, chicken breast or fish.
Kid-friendly Tasks:
- Gathering ingredients
- Dicing fruit (for older kids)
- Placing chopped fruit into bowl
- Drizzling honey
- Mixing
- Placing pita chips and salsa on serving platter
Baked Sweet Potato Chips
(serves: 4)
2 – 3 sweet potatoes or yams
Cooking spray
Dash of salt and pepper, if desired
Directions: Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Thinly slice sweet potatoes into rounds and place on baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Sprinkle with a dash of salt and pepper, if desired. Bake for 20 minutes, turn over and continue baking for an additional 10 minutes or until crispy.
Kid-friendly Tasks:
- Gathering ingredients
- Washing the sweet potatoes
- Placing potato slices on the baking sheet
Toby Amidor, MS, RD, CDN is a nutrition consultant who specializes in culinary nutrition, clinical nutrition and food safety. She is the nutrition expert at FoodNetwork.com and an adjunct professor at Teachers College, Columbia University. For more information, contact her at toby@namsko.com.
Jacqueline Zimmerman, MS just completed her dietetic internship at Teachers College, Columbia University. www.jjznutrition.com
