Nicholas proposes that the only reason children don't like vegetables is because they don't have enough anchovy.
Rebranding "leftovers" as a fun way to combine meals afresh is the theme of Walker's and Addie's lunches today. Here's Amanda on what they're having: Kids like leftovers, too! And they like dishes that allow them to browse around and select what they want. We had a dinner party, so I sent our kids to school with Luciana's Porchetta, pickled onions, garlic-rubbed crostini, and baby mustard greens (from the CSA I just joined) dressed with leftover vinaigrette. For dessert: Crème brûlée! But I just called it pudding.
Today's lunch is straight from the FOOD52 Shop: a freekeh salad with celery, lemon zest, parsley, and young garlic. It's topped with German ham, with Vermont Butter and Cheese Company Camembert and Greek yogurt on the side. A smorgasboard of cultures all in two lunchboxes! Freekeh is great for kids because it's a starch that not only keeps you fuller, longer, it has nutritional benefits that get lost in other forms of wheat. Let’s put it this way: if Oliver Twist’s porridge had been made of freekeh, he wouldn’t have needed to ask for more. (Walker and Addie like it, too.)
Between Nicholas Day's family cookbooks, tips for trying new foods, Amanda's kids' lunches, and eating by example, we talk a lot about eating with and cooking for kids here on FOOD52. Today we have a digital solution to your lunchbox woes: LaLa Lunchbox, a new app for iPhone that brings parents and kids together to plan and pack lunches. With the philosophy that kids who plan their own meals grow up to be better eaters, LaLa Lunchbox combines adorable graphics with truly helpful tools for busy families. Kids feel empowered because they get to choose their own meals, parents save money (the app generates a grocery list for you -- no more wasted, unwanted food), and everyone saves time -- both in the mornings when packing lunches and at the store. It's interactive, it's educational, and it can be 100% personalized to your pantry. You can easily add your kids' favorite dishes -- whether that's mac and cheese or pickled ramp and cream cheese sandwiches -- to the database, and you can share your children's lunch ideas via Facebook, Twitter, or email. ("You'll never guess what our oldest picked for lunch -- maybe yours will like it too!")
Nicholas Day explains why most family cookbooks fail -- and offers one glimmer of hope.
If you've ever emptied the contents of your crisper into a batch of grains to make an odds and ends salad, well, Amanda is right there with you. Here's the latest look into Walker's and Addie's lunch: "I picked up a piece of tuna at the Greenmarket and poached it in oil with garlic, thyme and sage -- and then made a "refrigerator" rice salad with it, adding bits of things I had hanging around. Jasmine rice, capers, pickled ramps, kalamata olives, celery, Russian red kale, and lemon juice. The carrot sticks are for a little crunch. And the mango is the Rum-Spiked Roasted Caramelized Mango leftover from our photo shoot."
There's a secret special ingredient snuck in with the Greenmarket fare in today's peek into Amanda's kids' lunchboxes. Here's what they're having, straight from Amanda herself: "Smoked ham topped with sautéed turnip greens, kale, and fresh garlic. I think a few asparagus spears are snuck in there as well. The local strawberries are nice this year so I've been putting them in every lunch -- sometimes whole, sometimes sliced and mixed with yogurt, and sometimes on top of stewed rhubarb. My kids went to a birthday party where there was a piñata, thus the lollipop and Hershey's Chocolate. I let our kids have commercial candy now and then, but I draw the line at fast food!"
Today's lunchboxes reveal a Middle Eastern influence for Walker's and Addie's lunches. There's stuck-pot rice (it's simple: basmati, yogurt, curry powder, and lime juice), a celery and Israeli cucumber salad (remember, Walker loves cucumbers!), and Fage yogurt with honey. What are you having for lunch?
Nicholas Day's household runs on shu mai, and yours should too.
"When I don't have much inspiration or if I have a more challenging ingredient, cream cheese is my secret weapon. Kids love cream cheese so it can help soften the blow of flavors like radish or pickled ramps. That's just what I packed here, along with fresh strawberries from the Union Square Greenmarket." - Amanda We hope Walker and Addie packed enough to share, because their lunch looks fantastic. What are you having?
This week's peek into Walker's and Addie's lunchboxes is as easy as 1, 2, 3: liverwurst over ricotta on one slice of bread, another slice sprinkled with garlic oil to top them, and container of clementine sections for dessert. Raise your hand if you're having a liverwurst sandwich for lunch, too. Nobody?
Nicholas Day's one piece of child-rearing advice? Feed your child sardines.
I happened to have a conversation with Addie after she and Walker took this to school for lunch, and I can report that she really enjoyed it! Virginia ham, cucumbers, and MissGinsu's recipe for Sweet and Spicy Pickled Ramps make a wonderful sandwich on brioche bound together with a swipe of mayo, plus a Cara Cara orange for dessert. The pickles were leftovers from Amanda's Friday night dinner party, but it was more than just efficiency that prompted her to put them in the sandwiches. She says, "My kids love pickles and cucumbers so I try to find ways to tuck them into their lunches." What's in your lunchbox?
It looks like both Amanda and Merrill are fans of lemon vinaigrette these days (A for her kids and M for weeknight meals with her husband -- Clara's still too small for such things). Here, Amanda explains how she actually prefers salads to sandwiches for Walker's and Addie's lunch: "I'm trying to make my kids more all-in-one salads like this tuna couscous salad. They're easy for my kids to eat -- actually easier than a sandwich -- and you can pile in lots of good flavors. Here, I blended oil-packed tuna, Israeli couscous, haricots verts, olives, capers, sliced baby garlic, and a lemon vinaigrette. Then for some crunch, I packed a few carrot sticks. And for a treat, a slice of City Bakery's mammoth chocolate chip cookies." What's in your lunchbox?
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