17
Home for Dinner Mixing Food, Fun, and Conversation for a Happier Family and Healthier Kids HOME FOR DINNER: Mixing Food, Fun, and Conversation for a Happier Family and Healthier Kids (AMACOM; January 15, 2015) is an invitation back to the table, with lots of practical tips, playful ideas, and tasty recipes, plus a little science to explain the benefits beyond nutritional. Throughout, author Anne K. Fishel, Ph.D. combines insights from experts (medical, psychological, cognitive, and more) with experiences that show how sharing food has the power to heal and strengthen families, nourish children’s development and well-being, and maybe even change the world. This slideshow will share delicious recipes from the book that are examples of playing with food to keep kids interested as well as meals to whip up quickly when you’re rushing from one event to the next.

Home for Dinner: Mixing Food, Fun, and Conversation

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

Page 1: Home for Dinner: Mixing Food, Fun, and Conversation

Home for Dinner Mixing Food, Fun, and Conversation for a Happier Family and Healthier Kids

HOME FOR DINNER: Mixing Food, Fun, and Conversation for a Happier Family and Healthier Kids (AMACOM; January 15, 2015) is an invitation back to the table, with lots of practical tips, playful ideas, and tasty recipes, plus a little science to explain the benefits beyond nutritional. Throughout, author Anne K. Fishel, Ph.D. combines insights from experts (medical, psychological, cognitive, and more) with experiences that show how sharing food has the power to heal and strengthen families, nourish children’s development and well-being, and maybe even change the world.

This slideshow will share delicious recipes from the book that are examples of playing with food to keep kids interested as well as meals to whip up quickly when you’re rushing from one event to the next.

Page 2: Home for Dinner: Mixing Food, Fun, and Conversation

Playing with Taste

Created by one of my sons, Joe, he ate a version of these from a food truck on the Lower East Side in Manhattan. Re-creating a dish at home that you’ve tasted at a restaurant (or food truck) is another kind of food play.

Fish Tacos (For 4)Ingredients 2 tablespoons white or champagne wine vinegar 1 tablespoon sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced 1 pint cherry tomatoes 1/2 red onion, finely diced Juice of 2 limes Salt and pepper 1 avocado 1/4 cup mayonnaise 1 teaspoon lime juice 1 cup all-purpose flour Cayenne pepper to taste 1/4 cup canola oil 1 pound cod fillets or other firm white fish 1 (8-count) small package soft corn tortillas

Page 3: Home for Dinner: Mixing Food, Fun, and Conversation

Directions Mix the vinegar, sugar, and salt in a small bowl. Pour the mixture over the sliced red onions and let sit for at least one hour. This creates a very quick pickling process.

Halve the cherry tomatoes and combine them in a bowl with the finely diced red onions, the juice of two limes, salt, and pepper. (If you’re feeling adventurous, add a small chopped jalapeño pepper, with seeds and ribs removed.)

Scoop out the avocado and mash it with a fork in a small bowl. Add the mayonnaise to the avocado, and mix until creamy. Season with 1 teaspoon lime juice and salt and pepper to taste.

Combine the flour, salt and pepper, and cayenne pepper in a shallow baking dish or high-rimmed plate. Slice the cod into 3-inch-long chunks. Dredge the fish in the flour mixture. Be sure to remove any clumps of flour that adhere to the fish, since these will just burn in the pan.

Heat the canola oil in a frying pan over a high heat. (Don’t be afraid of cranking up your stove to the highest flame and watching the oil smoke.) Place the cod into the pan, making sure not to overcrowd it, which will bring down the temperature in the pan. Fry for 2 minutes on each side. Any more will dry out the fish and make it rubbery.

Just before serving, heat the tortillas in a dry saucepan over low heat.

Now it’s time to assemble the tacos. Spread the avocado cream in a thin layer on each tortilla shell. You’ll need two tacos per person. Place a piece of cod on the avocado spread. Top the fish with the cherry tomato salsa and pickled onions.

Fish Tacos

Page 4: Home for Dinner: Mixing Food, Fun, and Conversation

Playing with Color

Rainbow Meal: Some dinners look as if you’ve drawn them with the vivid colors in a Crayola box. Here are a few variations on the theme of delicious, bright soups that can be combined with an open-faced sandwich to make a colorful meal.

Vegetable Soup

Ingredients Precut vegetables such as squash, broccoli, cauliflower, or carrots, cut into 1- to 2-inch chunks Potatoes, chunked (optional) Apple or pear, peeled and chunked Olive oil 1 onion, chopped 1 (16-ounce) carton chicken or vegetable stock Salt and pepper to taste 1 tablespoon curry powder, or seasoning of your choice

Page 5: Home for Dinner: Mixing Food, Fun, and Conversation

Directions Start by choosing a vegetable: squash (I recommend getting precut, so you don’t have a slippery, hard-to-cut vegetable), broccoli, cauliflower, or carrots all work beautifully. Frozen spinach is also a winner. You can add potatoes to any of these choices, for extra hardiness.

Cut the vegetable (and optional potato) into chunks of about an inch or two and place on a lightly oiled cookie tray. Drizzle with olive oil, and then mix with clean hands so that all the chunks are fairly evenly coated with oil.

Place in preheated 400-degree oven for 30 to 50 minutes, depending on the hardness of the vegetables. When you have about 15 minutes to go, add the apple or pear, also coated lightly in olive oil.

While the vegetables are roasting, sauté the onion in olive oil in a soup pot or Dutch oven. When the onion becomes translucent, throw in the roasted vegetables and the fruit. Stir in the stock, bring to a boil, and let simmer for about 10 minutes to blend the flavors. Season the soup with salt and pepper. I usually add curry powder but you may want to experiment with other seasonings.

Let the soup cool a bit, and then puree in a food processor in small batches until smooth (or leave it a bit choppy if you prefer a more textured soup).

To accompany these dazzling soups, you can toast some bread and spread with ripe avocado. Place some sliced cheese (Swiss and cheddar work well) on top of the avocado. Cook in a toaster oven until the cheese melts over the avocado. For added color, you can sprinkle some paprika on top. (These have been my go-to sandwiches for the last forty years, and I never tire of them. I think I discovered them when I lived on a commune in California, and I really don’t know why they haven’t replaced peanut butter and jelly or tuna as classic sandwiches.) Arrange a few pieces of fresh fruit on the plate and you will have a veritable rainbow.

Vegetable Soup

Page 6: Home for Dinner: Mixing Food, Fun, and Conversation

Playing with Air

Meringue Cookies (Makes about 20)

Ingredients 2 large egg whites 1/8 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar 1 teaspoon vanilla 3/4 cup sugar 6 ounces chocolate chips 1/3 cup toasted and chopped almonds, walnuts, or pecans (optional) 2 sheets of computer paper or parchment paper.

This recipe feels like you are fashioning something delicious out of thin air. As an added bonus, these cookies are so quick to make that it takes less time to bake them than it does to drive to the store and buy a box of cookies.

Page 7: Home for Dinner: Mixing Food, Fun, and Conversation

Directions

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Whip the egg whites, salt, cream of tartar, and vanilla in a mixer until soft peaks form. Slowly add the sugar, while the machine is still running. The mixture should form peaks. Fold in the chocolate chips and toasted nuts.

Place the computer or parchment paper on the cookie pan. Using a tablespoon, spoon a rounded mound of the batter onto a cookie pan.

Place the cookies in the oven for about 25 minutes, or until they are lightly golden. If you just can’t wait, you can take the cookies out at this point and they will be delicious, with a marshmallowy consistency. Better still: turn off the oven after they cook for 25 minutes, and let them sit in the cooling oven for another hour. Then, they will form a slightly crisp exterior with a pillowy interior. Because they are so airy, people eat them with abandon.

Meringue Cookies (Makes about 20)

Page 8: Home for Dinner: Mixing Food, Fun, and Conversation

Playing with Memory

My Mother’s (Edith Fishel) Ice Cream CakeAre there any desserts that still make you salivate? Are there any foods that you closely associate with a family member, so that when you eat that food, you think about him or her? If so, making that food for your family may be a way to bring that person to the table, if only in spirit. Since many memorable stories are told at the table, by and about the people who matter the most to us, we tend to hold on to them. The meals that accompany those stories also get stored in our memory banks.

Ingredients Cake: About 2 dozen ladyfingers 3 pints ice cream, softened but not melting (my mother usually used mint chocolate chip, black raspberry, and chocolate because she thought these looked beautiful together).

Topping: 1/2 pint heavy cream Colored sprinkles (optional)

Page 9: Home for Dinner: Mixing Food, Fun, and Conversation

Directions Line the bottom of a springform pan with ladyfingers (soft, yellow spongy cakes that are about 3 inches long and an inch wide). Then prop a ring of ladyfingers around the perimeter of the pan so that they are standing up and so that no part of the pan is showing.

Spoon out the first pint of ice cream and press it down, using a spatula or the palm of your hand. Then, do the same with the next flavor of ice cream, and the next. Put the cake into the freezer.Just before serving, and as you let the cake warm up a bit, whip the heavy cream by hand with a beater or in an electric mixer until peaks form; be careful not to let the cream go too far and turn into butter. Spoon this whipped cream over the top of the cake before serving. (My mother used to decorate the cake with edible silver balls, which I think may be a bit toxic, so I skip them.) Instead, colored sprinkles look nice on top.

At the risk of gilding the lily, I like to serve the cake with Hot Chocolate Sauce drizzled over each beautiful slice.

Hot Chocolate Sauce Recipe 8 ounces quality chocolate 1/2 pint heavy cream 1 tablespoon honey 1 tablespoon freshly made coffee

Melt the chocolate and the cream in the top pan of a double boiler. Remove from heat and stir in the honey and the coffee.

My Mother’s (Edith Fishel) Ice Cream Cake

Page 10: Home for Dinner: Mixing Food, Fun, and Conversation

Recipe for a short-cut to cooking dinner

Jook Adaptation (For 8)Another strategy, particularly when you have eaters who range from cautious to gourmand, is “customizing dish.” It’s a basic chicken rice soup, or jook, to which each adds what he or she wants; it’s like making a sundae! Short-cut: Only one basic dish needs to be made.

Ingredients 4 chicken legs 2 cups jasmine rice 10 garlic cloves, divided 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided 3 tablespoons fish sauce (available in the Asian section of most supermarkets) 1 teaspoon sugar 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 pound mushrooms, carrots, red bell peppers, or a vegetable of your choosing (or a combination) 1 cup bean sprouts 1 lime, cut into wedges 1 bunch scallions, white parts, thinly sliced Chile pepper flakes

Page 11: Home for Dinner: Mixing Food, Fun, and Conversation

Directions Bring 2 quarts of salted water to a boil in a large pot. Add the chicken legs.

While the chicken is cooking, rinse the rice. Sauté two of the garlic cloves in 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large saucepan for 1 minute. Add the rice, stirring often for about 5 minutes. When that’s done, throw in with the chicken.

After the chicken has cooked for about 25 minutes, remove it and set aside, leaving the rice to continue cooking for about 15 minutes longer. Then add the fish sauce, sugar, and salt. Continue cooking for another 20 minutes. When the chicken cools, remove the skin, and pull the chicken off the bone, shredding it into bite-size pieces; add back to the soup.

Chop the remaining 8 cloves of garlic and sauté in the saucepan in the remaining tablespoon of oil; for a minute or two, or until golden. Place the garlic in a small bowl.

Sauté the mushrooms, carrots, red pepper (or whatever combination you want) in the saucepan for a few minutes (add additional oil if needed) or until tender; place them in another small bowl.

Place the bean sprouts, lime wedges, and scallions in individual bowls. Bring all the bowls to the table, along with the chile pepper flakes.

Serve each person the chicken rice soup. Let each person sprinkle in items of their choosing from the bowls.

Jook Adaptation (For 8)

Page 12: Home for Dinner: Mixing Food, Fun, and Conversation

Recipe for a short-cut to cooking dinner

This one-dish meal can be served hot, cold, or lukewarm. Take it to a soccer field or ballpark. Make it the night before and bring it out as a complete meal for dinner. Short-cut: One meal in a bowl so you don’t have to make a lot of different dishes for picky eaters.

Simple Chicken Sesame Noodles (For 8)

Noodle Ingredients: 2 chicken breasts, with the bone in 1-3/4 pounds linguine 1/2 cup sesame seeds 2 cups snow peas   For the Sauce: 3 garlic cloves minced 3/4 cup sesame oil 3/4 cup soy sauce 6 tbsp balsamic vinegar 2 tbsp hot pepper oil 2 tbsp peanut butter 2 bunches scallions, minced (only the white parts)

Page 13: Home for Dinner: Mixing Food, Fun, and Conversation

Directions Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Toast sesame seeds on a cookie sheet in oven for 5 to 10 minutes, until golden. Set aside. Brush chicken breasts with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and roast in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour.   Bring two pots of water (one small and one large) to a boil. Cook snow peas in the small pot for about 2 minutes, then plunge them into cold water, cut into thin strips, and set aside.   Cook the linguine until al dente in the large pot, about 8 minutes. 

While the snow peas, chicken, and linguine are cooking, whisk together the sauce ingredients. Divide the sauce into two bowls. When the chicken is done, shred it into bite-size pieces and place it in one of the bowls of sauce to marinate.   When the linguine is ready, drain and place in a large serving bowl. Toss with the other half of the sauce. Add the toasted sesame seeds, top with the chicken, remaining sauce, and sliced snow peas.  

Simple Chicken Sesame Noodles (For 8)

Page 14: Home for Dinner: Mixing Food, Fun, and Conversation

Recipe for a short-cut to cooking dinner

Tomato Bread Soup

Ingredients 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 onion, diced 1 celery stalk, diced 1 carrot stick, diced 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 fennel bulb, diced 2 cups stale bread, cut into cubes (If you only have fresh bread, you can lightly toast it) 1 (28-ounce) can plum tomatoes (pureed in a food processor) or 4 fresh tomatoes 1 quart vegetable or chicken stock 1/4 cup red wine 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves Grated Parmesan cheese

Create interesting meals from leftovers: My favorite recycled recipe is tomato bread soup, which is a delicious way to use up stale bread, ends of loaves, and imperfect tomatoes. Short-cut: Using what you have on hand in one dish

Page 15: Home for Dinner: Mixing Food, Fun, and Conversation

Directions

In a Dutch oven or heavy soup pan, heat the oil and throw in the onion, celery, carrots, garlic, and fennel, sautéing over medium heat until soft. Then toss in the bread and stir for about 1 minute, or until it is coated in oil.

Add the tomatoes, basil leaves, stock, and wine, and simmer over low heat for about 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve with generous amounts of Parmesan cheese on top.

Tomato Bread Soup

Page 16: Home for Dinner: Mixing Food, Fun, and Conversation

Home for Dinner by Anne K. Fishel, Ph.D.

Sports, activities, long hours, and commutes -- with so much to do, dinner has been bumped to the back burner.

But research shows that family dinners offer more than just nutrition. Mealtime is a place to unwind and reconnect, far from the pressures of school and work. As the author notes, family therapy can be helpful, but regular dinner is transformative.

Home for Dinner makes a passionate and informed plea to put mealtime back at the center of family life and supplies compelling evidence and realistic tips for getting even the busiest of families back to the table. Chock full of stories, new research, recipes, and friendly advice, the book explains how to:

• Whip up quick, healthy, and tasty dinners • Get kids to lend a hand (without any grief) • Adapt meals to the needs of everyone -- from toddlers to teens • Inspire picky eaters to explore new foods • Keep dinnertime conversation stimulating • Add an element of fun • Reduce tension at the table • Explore other cultures and spark curiosity about the world • And more

Page 17: Home for Dinner: Mixing Food, Fun, and Conversation

Home for Dinner by Anne K. Fishel, Ph.D.

Author Bio Anne K. Fishel, Ph.D., author of Home for Dinner: Mixing Food, Fun and Conversation for a Happier Family and Healthier Kids, is the director of the Family and Couples Therapy Program at Massachusetts General Hospital and an associate clinical professor of psychology at the Harvard Medical School. As cofounder of The Family Dinner Project, she has been interviewed by NPR, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Christian Science Monitor, Good Housekeeping, Parents Magazine, and other major media. She writes the Digital Family blog for Psychology Today.

The Family Dinner Project

@Home4DinnerBook

www.thefamilydinnerproject.org

www.amacombooks.org/HomeForDinner.htm

Food Photos: © Joanne Smith/Headshots Photography