I admit it. I've experienced that twinge of jealousy when I hear about someone's kid cheering over carrots and hummus, popping grape tomatoes into his mouth as if they were M&M's, or happily chowing down a salad. My boys will eat their share of veggies, but usually if its in a sauce or masked by other ingredients in a dish (check out the recipe for stuffed shells).

A big tip I see all the time on getting kids to expand their culinary palettes is to get them to help you cook. My oldest son will happily help in the kitchen, especially if it involves using a fun kitchen tool or mixing ingredients together. One of our favorite kitchen gadgets is the PalmPeeler by Chef'n. It tucks right into little hands and makes peeling veggies easy and fun.

Fig 1: Boy peeling carrot

Except my boy is not easily fooled. Just because he helped prepare a dish doesn't mean he *has* to eat it. Sigh.

So when I came across "The Gastrokid All-Purpose Get Your Kids to Eat Their Vegetables Dressing" recipe, I had to give it a try. It's the first recipe in The Gastrokid Cookbook by Hugh Garvey and Matthew Yeomans. It features the "three most powerful tools in a cook's repertoire" (fat, salt and acid). You know the saying, "It's all in the sauce." 


The Gastrokid All-Purpose Get Your Kids to Eat Their Veggies Dressing
Adapted from "The Gastrokid Cookbook"

INGREDIENTS:
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
Kosher salt
Ground black pepper
4-5 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 small shallot, minced
1 Tablespoon Honey (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a bowl, combine the vinegar, pinch of salt and 1/8 teaspoon of ground black pepper and whisk until the salt is dissolved.

2. Whisk in the oil, mustard, shallots and honey (if using)

3. Drizzle on salad, raw cut-up veggies or steamed vegetables

The Good: Easy to whip up and keep a big jar in the fridge. 

The Bad: My kids hated it.

Grade: B. Honey did help cut the tartness. I will make this again, at least for myself, but will try using another acid (lemon juice) or different brand of red wine vinegar.

Today's cooking assignment: Legumes

For those of you keeping score, this is my first test recipe in getting my family to try new flavors, ingredients and dishes. My kids do not do legumes. They'll only eat the rice when served Beans and Rice. Baked beans are pushed to the edge of the plate. They like saying "Edamame" more than they like eating them. Hummus? Forget it.

Perhaps I needed a killer recipe that would get my family to sing the praises of this vegetable (and no, it's not a magical fruit as we were led to believe as kids). Who better to turn to for inspiration than Mario Batali and Hugh Garvey and Matthew Yeomans, authors of The Gastrokid Cookbook. They write, "If a restaurant like Babbo is giving this away to each and every diner, that's the first sign that this is an incredibly cheap dish to make. The kids love this. The parents love this. The wallet love this." I had to make this! Get the recipe here - Roasted Chickpea Bruschetta from The Gastrokid Cookbook


The Good: The flavor profile (as they say on Bravo's Top Chef) was amazing. Briny olives, balsamic vinegar complemented the chickpeas very well.

The Bad: Roasting the chickpeas dried them out too much for my taste. Serving them on slices of baguette was somewhat cumbersome as everything kept on rolling right off.

Grade: B. The five year old popped a handful in his mouth and confessed he enjoyed it. I think using quality olives (from Russo's of course!) and roasting minced garlic with the chickpeas for the last few minutes helped enhance the flavors.