The blog of cooking-ez.com
Children and vegetables
This is an attempt to address the question that all parents and grandparents, maybe you included, face so often: how can we get children to like vegetables? And at the same time, we might get away from the familiar, day-in, day-out round of pasta, chips, toast..
Well, I can hear you say, it's not that easy, maybe “Mission Impossible”. Even so, there are some things you can try which might help.
Well, I can hear you say, it's not that easy, maybe “Mission Impossible”. Even so, there are some things you can try which might help.
10K
Last modified on: March 9th 2017
Children and vegetables
First of all, an observation: our little darlings are very sensitive to appearances. So, if the food does not look “nice” to start with, you've already lost the battle! In other words, if green vegetables don't look attractively green when you put them in front of children, you'll hear, even before they try the food, “It looks yukky, I don't like it!” And who can blame them when “canteen” vegetables are so often a sorry sight: big chunks of khaki-coloured broccoli, cooked to death and still swimming in a pool of murky water – hardly likely to win over adults, let alone children!
Let's stick with broccoli for a moment, as it's a good illustration of the problem we're up against: for even half a chance that children will like it, it needs to be beautifully fresh and green, only just cooked (still with a little “bite”), cut up small, and – above all – good quality.
2) First, boil lightly: Plunge the broccoli into a large pan of boiling salted water or, better still, chicken stock, for 3 or 4 minutes. Watch for the change in colour to a bright emerald green, then check if cooked by tasting. The broccoli should still be slightly firm. Drain and cool straight away in cold (or even iced) water to stop the cooking (very important). When cool, drain again thoroughly – a salad spinner is the best way of doing this.
3) Add flavour with butter and shallot: Peel a shallot and chop very finely. Melt a generous knob of butter in a pan, add the shallot, salt and pepper and cook for 1 minute (without browning either the butter or the shallot).
4) Second, very brief cooking: Add the broccoli to the pan and stir well. Heat through (rather than cook any further), salt and pepper lightly, then taste to check the seasoning. Serve immediately, keeping your fingers crossed…
You can also include other food you wish to serve with the vegetables. Here, for example, there are bits of ham added.
Please note: It could well be that when you serve the food, you may need to be firm and use the good old “Taste it first!”
You will have realised by now that there is no magic formula to get children to enjoy vegetables, but by making an effort like this, you will at least stand a chance. And, if nothing else, this is the way good restaurants cook and the secret of the colourful and attractive vegetables shown on TV cookery programmes.
To sum up: To appeal to children, vegetables need to be cut up small, look colourful and have plenty of flavour.
Let's stick with broccoli for a moment, as it's a good illustration of the problem we're up against: for even half a chance that children will like it, it needs to be beautifully fresh and green, only just cooked (still with a little “bite”), cut up small, and – above all – good quality.
What to do:
1) Cut up to an appropriate size: the notion of “big” or “small” is different for adults and children. For our purposes, broccoli needs to be cut into small, separate florets – only these tips – about the size of the top joint of your thumb and no larger. Rinse thoroughly.
2) First, boil lightly: Plunge the broccoli into a large pan of boiling salted water or, better still, chicken stock, for 3 or 4 minutes. Watch for the change in colour to a bright emerald green, then check if cooked by tasting. The broccoli should still be slightly firm. Drain and cool straight away in cold (or even iced) water to stop the cooking (very important). When cool, drain again thoroughly – a salad spinner is the best way of doing this.
3) Add flavour with butter and shallot: Peel a shallot and chop very finely. Melt a generous knob of butter in a pan, add the shallot, salt and pepper and cook for 1 minute (without browning either the butter or the shallot).
4) Second, very brief cooking: Add the broccoli to the pan and stir well. Heat through (rather than cook any further), salt and pepper lightly, then taste to check the seasoning. Serve immediately, keeping your fingers crossed…
You can also include other food you wish to serve with the vegetables. Here, for example, there are bits of ham added.
Please note: It could well be that when you serve the food, you may need to be firm and use the good old “Taste it first!”
And the last resort?
If all else fails, don't despair! Over time, as we grow up into teenagers, then adults, our tastes change quite dramatically: it was impossible to get my elder son to eat spinach, for example, when he was small. Now he loves it.You will have realised by now that there is no magic formula to get children to enjoy vegetables, but by making an effort like this, you will at least stand a chance. And, if nothing else, this is the way good restaurants cook and the secret of the colourful and attractive vegetables shown on TV cookery programmes.
To sum up: To appeal to children, vegetables need to be cut up small, look colourful and have plenty of flavour.
Lasts posts
Divide and weigh dough into regular pieces
When you prepare dough for cupcakes in a pastry shop or bakery, at some point you're going to have to divide it, i.e. cut it into small pieces, which should all have the same weight. Sounds simple enough, but is it really that simple?5755 May 30th 2023
How to sprinkle well?
When in a recipe you need to sprinkle something, that is to say to spread a fine layer of powder (flour, sugar, etc.) on something, powdered sugar on a pie for example, you will probably use a fine strainer or a sieve, this is the best way to proceed. But is that all?7575 May 23th 2023
How to properly roll out a pie crust?
Very often in pastry making, you have to roll out a pastry before using it for a pie or another dessert. At home, of course, you get out your rolling pin and simply roll it out. Is there a way to get an evenly rolled out dough? That's what we will see in this article.1,1364.8 May 10th 2023
Don't throw away your pizza crusts
You've probably already noticed that at the end of a pizza meal, at least half of the participants have left the crusts in the boxes or on the plates that many don't eat. Naturally, one would tend to put them "to the birds", or worse, to throw them away, and it's a shame because they are in fact...1,8614.8 April 22th 2023
The long fermentation of bread
I had already told you in a previous article about the delicious little alchemy that happens when we make bread, let's try to go a little further this time, and try to discover what makes a good bread, in other words, which has taste. .2,0474.8 April 13th 2023
Other pages you may also like
How to properly roll out a pie crust?
Very often in pastry making, you have to roll out a pastry before using it for a pie or another dessert. At home, of course, you get out your rolling pin and simply roll it out. Is there a way to get an evenly rolled out dough? That's what we will see in this article.1,1364.8 May 10th 2023
The secret of cooking until "done"
This is a real chef's skill: being able to look at a fish fillet cooking and say, "Stop – that's enough, it's cooked". I always admire this ability to see at a glance if something is done. It is what sets the professionals apart from us mere amateurs. And it's true that how fish is cooked is...14K3.8 November 26th 2012
How to zest a fruit?
You will have no doubt noticed that many recipes call for the zest of citrus fruit. The zest is that outer layer of the skin which adds so much flavour to a dish. There are many different ways to peel off the zest and various tools are available. Here is a summary of the “dos and don'ts” ...39K3.5 November 5th 2013
Steam for baking bread
What does steam have to do with bread-making? This is not only a bakers' secret, it is something you might not think of at all: if you make bread and bake it like a cake, you will end up with bread, but pale and with a thick, hard crust – a long way from the golden-brown crusty loaf you had in...132K4.3 June 16th 2021
What is the difference between bakery and patisserie?
This is a question that you may well have asked yourself and which I will attempt to answer. In France the two trades of "boulangerie" (bakery) and "pâtisserie" (patisserie and confectionery) have always been quite distinct, but where exactly do the boundaries lie? .110K 13.9 February 7th 2017
Follow this page
If you are interested in this page, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the page is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.