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(1) Invest them up front in food shopping - Have your kids help picking things out with you at grocery stores, the farmer market, etc.
(2) Apply broccoli logic - If all else fails and the only thing you can get your kid to eat is a hot dog, apply the "broccoli theory." It goes like this: no matter what the broccoli (or kale or quinoa) is sitting next to, it will magically transform the dinner into something you can feel good about feeding your children.
(3) Make sure there’s always something familiar on the plate - I call this "psychological latch" food, like tater tots or one of those parbaked Trader Joe's dinner rolls. If you are going to make pizza with clams or poached eggs, make sure at least one half of the pie is a classic marinara and mozzarella. It's just not fair to spring something like veal scallopini on them without an anchor.
(4) But Veal Milanese, that’s another story - Anything Milanese is likely to knock their socks off. (see “Chicken Milanese” recipe)
(5) Point and cook - If you are cooking from cookbooks or blogs, have the kids flip through the pages or scroll through the slideshows and tell them to point to what looks good. Of course, you run the risk of it not looking exactly like the picture, but at least their heads are in the right place when they sit down.
(6) Repackage, Respin, Rebrand - Name dishes after people. Replicate favorite restaurant dishes. When it’s time for sandwiches, use your waffle iron. We’ve turned grilled cheeses and regular old bologna sandwiches into edible masterpieces that way.
(7) Never answer when a kid asks “what’s for dinner?” - Especially if it’s something new. Just repeat these words: "I don’t know yet." Giving a kid some time to think about a dish that they potentially hate or that is just downright mysterious gives them a window to formulate an argument against the food — and also gives them time to convince you to make them something else. Repeat: "I don't know yet."
Great tips, thanks! After a long day at work, grocery shopping and preparing and serving the evening meal, I cringe when the girls take one look at dinner and instantly judge it "inedible" and ask me for something else. This is especially frustrating when I put an effort to give them something I think they like (e.g. They liked the broccoli rabe last week, but tonight it is detestable!) So, we have adopted the "one bite" rule, which is, you must have at least one bite of everything served. So, even if they have not liked something in the past, they must give it another try. The theory is in order for something to be palatable, it must be familiar - related to #3 above. If after several good tries they still don't like it, then I might consider removing that item/dish from the menu or changing the recipe.
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