For years I focused my home cooking on the most finicky eaters: children. I cajoled — occasionally tricked — them into eating good, healthy food. Introduce me to little ones whose diet consists solely of chicken fingers, pizza and mac-and-cheese, and I am enchanted! I love bringing little guys to the table with a smile instead of a squabble.
To begin:
— Kids are apt to try food that seems fun, colorful or innovative. Think in terms of carnivals, fairs, food trucks, takeout or ballparks. I try to imitate these at home.
— Kids are interested in trying food they had a hand in preparing. A cooking project can be rewarding. It takes patience. It means ignoring small — or even major — messes.
My latest venture into this world was “dinner-on-a-stick,” also known as kebabs or skewers. Think cotton candy, corn dogs, etc. to pique interest in small, fussy eaters. Kids may be intrigued enough to try it, but also enough to help thread the food onto skewers.
Choose from wooden or metal (stainless steel). I like the eye appeal of long wooden skewers. They do need soaking for 30 minutes prior to keep from burning once they hit the oven or grill. (I’ve seen them catch fire).
Metal skewers are a bit trickier. Food tends to twirl around on them, making it difficult to cook on all sides, so it’s important to find one that holds the food securely in place.
Now, choose a cooking technique. Oven or grill. I keep my outdoor grill at the ready all winter. An oven broiler serves the same purpose but leaves out the smoky flavor.
Protein is the main event. Kids may like sausages, chicken or a tender cut of beef. The more courageous may accept unexpected offerings like shrimp, fresh salmon, tuna or swordfish. Treat the fish to a short bath (10 minutes) in a flavorful marinade, the chicken and beef a little longer (up to two hours).
Now sneak in a few vegetables. Try tiny red or white potatoes or a larger potato, cut in cubes, anything but russet. Slip on a few fat cherry tomatoes, and squares of bell peppers — as many colors as you can find. (I skip the green.)
A wily cook might twist some cauliflower or broccoli florets, carrot chunks, whole radishes or winter squash onto the skewers.
First, cut or trim each element to fit the skewer. The denser vegetables, e.g. potatoes and squash, will need more time to be skewer-ready than cherry tomatoes. Give them a head start of 10 to 12 minutes in boiling water, then test them by piercing with a skewer for readiness. This can be done up to a day ahead. A cook needs to pay attention as to which foods might need softening up. (Corn-on-the-cob, broken into smaller pieces, looks great on a stick, but the center never tenderizes enough to be pierced by wooden skewers. Use metal skewers for this).
Next, mix up a marinade. Separate it into two parts: the first to bathe the meats and fish before cooking; the second to slather over the vegetables once established on the skewers. (Kids love “painting” the food with a kitchen brush before sending it to the fire). If you don’t want to whisk up a marinade from scratch, substitute a favorite bottled salad dressing, just not the creamy type. (This can get messy, so maybe cover the table with a disposable plastic tablecloth.)
Here’s my favorite marinade. It works on meat, poultry or seafood.
All-purpose marinade
Makes just short of 1 cup. Can be easily doubled, and kept, tightly covered, in the refrigerator for up to two days. If kept longer, the garlic will overpower the other flavors.
— 3/4 cup pure olive oil
— 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
— 1 clove fresh garlic, minced
— 1 tablespoon coarse grain sea salt, or to taste
— 1 teaspoon herbes de Provence
— 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
— 1/2 to 1/4 teaspoon ground fennel
— Fresh ground black pepper, to taste
Pour all of these into a jar with a tight cover and shake vigorously. Set aside. Shake it up again before using.
Considering the presence of protein, vegetables and carbs, a skewered dinner is a complete meal. To be more indoors-y, plate it over a mixed salad of lettuces and herbs. Alternatively, you can skip the potato cubes and serve the sticks on a heap of fluffy rice, mashed potatoes or steamed fresh greens.
(An aside: skewered hot dogs sit nicely on a hill of baked beans or mac-and-cheese; meatballs on a pile of pasta. But then, that defeats the original premise of steering kids toward better alternatives).
When the novelty of vittles on a stick wears off, conjure up a new plan. Take a hint from all types of eateries. Try dinner in imaginative ways, e.g. in a takeout box, piled into a paper cone, wrapped in soft flour tortillas, lettuce leaves or thin pancakes.
Works for me.
Linda Bassett lived in Marblehead for years and has worked as a cook, trained up-and-coming chefs, studied food history and led food tours. Her book, “From Apple Pie to Pad Thai,” is about local cooks and cooking.
