THIS IS THE LAST ONE. We’ve been cooking with Heidi Swanson’s recipes for the last few weeks (among others), from the jaw-droppingly beautiful website 101 cookbooks. Honestly, if all food were that gorgeous, who wouldn’t want to focus on healthy eating all the time? And with that in mind, I set out to amp up our efforts at presentation again, this time using cappuccino cups that we bought in Campo De Fiori, an outdoor market in Rome. Big fans of tea parties, I thought this would really seal the deal.
It didn’t.
Both kids ate a few bites, but no more than they would have if the potatoes were arranged in a tiny heap. But two important facts remain: These potatoes had a not-so-secret healthy ingredient, kale. And they did try it. Along the way, the question did come up: what’s this green stuff? I relied heavily on a reference to Green Eggs and Ham, which is a book they both love AND accept as reason enough to eat spinach in their eggs every time.
On that note, there are ups and downs to the ages our girls are at now (3 1/2 and just-turned-2). On one hand they’re so small that it can be easy to impart habits and simple reasoning (see: Dr. Seuss above) but our kids are so young that efforts like this one in the cup aren’t totally appreciated (and I’m sure you know nothing about this?) Estelle ate a lot more than Phoebe but I still like the ideas and plan to keep experimenting with shapes, serving ideas and more.
In the meantime, here’s the recipe for the Kale and Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes at 101 Cookbooks, who ALSO served it in a teacup and I swear I had my tiny cups on the counter before I even clicked on her link. Perhaps my dream is coming true, I’m becoming a bit like Heidi. Guess I’ll be opening a pop-up store full of delightful kitchenware next…
{foodlets MAKEOVER}
Original recipe: Kale and Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes from 101 Cookbooks
- more kid-friendly: Increase Parmesan cheese to 1/3 or 1/2 cup and mix half of it in with the potatoes, saving the other half for garnish…and let the kids put it on top themselves. Omit scallions and
- faster & easier: chop up the kale pretty finely (and only add half a bunch of your group isn’t into kale or try baby spinach instead, which is sweeter and softer) and throw it into the pot of boiling water at the end of the cooking time for the potatoes. You want to boil it for 5 minutes or so, enough to get it nice and soft but I don’t think it’s necessary to involve another pan (and clean another pan). Do the same thing with the garlic and skip the second pan altogether. You’ll mash everything up with plenty of olive oil and milk, making a delicious mixture anyway.
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