Healthy Eating

"Thanks for dinner. It was good." said London after dinner was all over. Nothing sweeter can come to a chefs ears after or during a meal than a compliment. There are certain tips I have on creating a wonderful eater and that is to start early. One of my good friends told me once that her friend, I know complicated right?, that young children don't have developed enough taste buds which is why they naturally don't like vegetables and fruits and only like candy. What a bunch of crap. Start early by introducing a variety of tastes, if nursing through your milk by you eating a variety of foods, and then later when you start to introduce solids to them. A GREAT book is Super Baby Foods by Ruth Yaron. She is so detailed in which foods to introduce when and how to prepare and make sure they get a varied diet with adequate vitamins to be healthy. I think I had it easy because London liked them all and when she refused I would try again the next day. The key is to try, try, and try some more. Now that she is 3, she eats everything. Three main rules at our house: 1. "Hay que probar." You have to try. We explain she doesn't have to like it, but she has to try it and that we are sure she will like it because we do and it's yummy. 2. Never ever say a food is yucky. She is not allowed to say this and neither are we. (Be careful when describing rotten food, try not to say yuck but more oh no, this has gone bad!) 3. Never tell the child you don't like a food or that dinner is not your favorite tonight. They totally pick up on this and are likely to decide to be just like you. (I don't care a lot for zucchini but you'll never hear me tell London this, and I still make it and eat it in front of her. shhhhh)

Now enough of my tips for kids and let's get back to dinner. Tonight was Mahi in a pesto wine sauce, quinoa salad and corn. All of these dishes used seasonal ingredients. Tomatoes, corn, cucumbers, zucchini and basil. Let's start with the Mahi:

olive oil

diced onion, maybe a 1/4 of an onion

1/4 cup pesto, I make my own but you could use a store bought one

Mahi filet

1/2 cup white wine

1/2 cup liquid, either broth or water

diced tomato

julienned zucchini

Start by heating the pan, medium high heat, and then adding some olive oil, not a lot because the pesto has olive oil, and onion. Add the white wine and pesto and heat until onion is soft. Add filet, tomato, zucchini, and liquid. Cover and simmer until done. Simple, easy and delish!

Quinoa Salad

2 cups vegetable broth

1 cup dried quinoa

diced tomato, seeded

diced cucumber, seeded

corn

avocado, diced

some mint

Bring broth to a boil and then add quinoa. Exactly like rice, let is boil until broth is absorbed. Take off heat and toss all remaining ingredients together. (Super good cold as well.) Enjoy!

Corn, either grilled or boiled. :)

Quinoa is a great food. For those of you unfamiliar with it, google it. It hails from Peru where the people in the mountains grow it and basically survive on it. It has protein and is very filling without feeling heavy. I buy it in bulk at Winco, a local grocery store chain here in Boise. All the vegetables I either grew or bought from a farmer. How great to know I supported our local economy. I grew the tomatoes, basil, and mint. The zucchini came from our neighbor and the corn and onion from a farm stand. (Oh I guess I bought the cucumber, mine aren't big enough yet.) Not only does everything taste delicious but you feel good about what you are putting into your body and your families bodies.

(After I took this picture of my tomato plant his evening, I reached inside and got 4 red ripe tomatoes!) Hope you enjoyed this as much as I did!

Namaste!