Picky Eating Part One

Can a Picky Eater change? I believe so. A super-flexible recipe for Any Bean Dip and in the Kitchen Playground: Cooking Methods, Times and Averages.

I started ChopChop The Fun Cooking Magazine in 2010. At the time there wasn’t much conversation about the value of kids learning to cook, or “using” cooking as an antidote to poor eating habits, or obesity, or anything else. I was often asked to speak at events, or to do cooking demonstrations, and no matter my topic, when I did a Q and A, almost all the questions revolved around picky eating.

I’ve been thinking about this post for weeks and weeks. I could do a whole Substack just on Picky eating, a topic that fascinates me. When Picky: How American Children Became the Fussiest Eaters in History, Helen Zoe Veit’s brillant book on picky eating came out, I read it right away. I read it the way I read books in college, underlining and starring as I read. My copy is a mess.

I know and respect Helen, whom I met very early on in my career at ChopChop. Her book is not about judgments or solutions, but about how we got here. And we are here, in the land of the pickiest eaters: kids today are picky in ways that are not good for them (she doesn’t judge).

At some point, along the way, I had a meeting with my colleague Christine Zanchi, who told me about her twins unhappy-making eating habits. I asked her if she’d be open to me doing an experiment on picky eating and when she said yes, I approached The New York Times with the idea to see if I could make simple changes to their diets. They said yes, and here’s the column (I’m going to write about Helen’s book next week):

What is a picky eater? Is it someone who won’t taste new things? Someone who knows exactly what they like? Someone who loves the spotlight? Are picky eaters made, not born? I believe they are mostly, but not entirely, made. And if adults can make a picky eater, then it ought to be possible for them to help one change.

Can a few resolute grown-ups transform a child from a picky eater into one with an open mind, one who readily tastes before turning up his nose? I think we can, and with Dr. David Ludwig, the director of the New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center at Boston Children’s Hospital and the author of “Ending the Food Fight,” I set out to prove it, or at least help one child, in one family, learn to approach food in a new way.

When I was 14, I became a vegetarian (which some might say is a form of picky eating). My mother, a great cook, told me that she wasn’t going to cook special food for me and that I could eat the dinner she prepared, minus the meat. If I wanted something else, she said, I could learn to cook it myself.

Twenty-one years ago, I became a mother and had the same very laid-back attitude. Dinner was, and is, dinner. My two children mostly ate what we ate; I didn’t cook two separate meals, never made them try anything and I didn’t argue over their choices. I never hid a vegetable, I didn’t use food as a carrot or a stick and I didn’t freak out if they didn’t eat. I treated them the way I would treat most anyone who shared my dinner table. Now they’re adults who tell me it just never seemed worth it not to at least try whatever I’d cooked.

Today, I run ChopChop Kids, the nonprofit publisher of ChopChop Magazine. Our mission is to inspire and teach children to cook and eat real food with their families. Teaching them to cook is a powerful tool in just about every way: it creates connections between generations, cultures and places; teaches math, science, geography and self-sufficiency; it’s creative, fun, and on and on. Honestly, I feel like I’ve been on the same path my entire life. I believe most every child will enjoy most every healthy food, if those healthy foods are what there is to cook, share and eat.

Dr. Ludwig, a leader in creating healthy habits in children and their families, agrees. We teamed with Christine Zanchi, a mother, an executive producer in children’s media at WGBH, and a frustrated short order cook to twin 4-year-old boys. One twin eats everything. The other is a hot dog/hamburger/pizza child and won’t try much else. Christine is annoyed with herself for giving in; she knows she knows better and she feels that the time for change is now.

We sat down with Christine to get an understanding of her family. Dr. Ludwig asked: What is her motivation to make change? What does success look like? Do the boys have medical issues? Weight issues? Allergies? Do they take vitamins? How much commercial TV do they watch? Are there any unusual stressors? What is a typical days menu?

After getting a clear picture, (the boys were controlling mealtimes), he said, “Your choices at the dinner table have placed a higher value on the short-term semblance of peace than on the long-term health of your children. It’s time to re-empower yourself and reestablish the proper dynamic between parent and child.” Christine, looking more than a little chastened, nodded. Dr. Ludwig told her, “It’s a human aberration for children to control the family meal.”

“The good news is that it’s easily fixable, although it’s going to get worse before it gets better,” he said. “Your job is to offer one healthy meal and their job is to choose if they eat it.” Because Christine had already told me that her primary goal was to serve one meal at dinner, his advice was welcome. Still, she told me she dreaded it. No parent wants dinner to be a big scene of conflict, and Christine doesn’t want to see either boy go hungry.

Her goal is to release her control issues around the table, not just to stop caving to her son’s demands, but to stop letting them bother her. On a more practical level, she’s looking for a range of strategies to deal with the refusal to eat and/or try new foods, as well as the (familiar to most parents) bread and cereal overload. For the boys, she wants them to arrive at the table and sit down without a long commentary on what part of dinner is acceptable, ‘broaden their nutritional repertoire,” and participate in meal prep.

Dr. Ludwig’s job here is to provide strategies based on hard science and years of experience, while mine is to take his advice and make it palatable for Christine, and fun for her children. Over the next six weeks I’m going to document what happens; what we suggest, what Christine commits to and how her twins react. We would love it if you would join us. Dinner’s on the table.

Christine’s to do list:

•Talk to husband, nanny and boys about the new rules: one homemade meal at dinner
•Talk about real (grows on trees, etc) versus fake (produced in factories) food
•Print the Agriculture Department’s MyPlate and have them go through their refrigerator and pantry and fill in ideas for each section.
•Make ONE dinner each night.
•Have the children help cook at least one meal this week.

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The process went so well that Christine kiddingly scolded me for her having kids who wanted to get involved in every meal. They really were transformed, and begged to be involved in all meals after the “experiment”.

Here is one of my favorite things I did with them.

I bought a bunch of dips (hummus, guacamole, and tsatziki). I also bought a bunch of raw vegetables, easy ones like cucumbers and carrot sticks) and ones that were more confrontational for them, like cauliflower and broccoli. My goal was to get them to eat the raw vegetables but I just told them that I had brought some great dips with me and asked if they wanted to try them. I strategically places the broccoli and cauliflower closer to the dips, which they ate with abandon, shocking Christine.

Recipe: Any-Bean Dip

This creamy dip can be made with any kind of bean (dark red, black, white, and chickpea are our favorites). It’s a great substitute for mayonnaise on turkey, cheese, and tomato-cucumber sandwiches. Of course it’s also good with cut — up vegetables or tortilla chips.

Active Time 15 minutes/Total Time 15 minutes/Makes 6 servings

Kitchen Gear

• Food processor (adult needed), or potato masher, or fork

• Can opener (adult needed)

• Strainer or colander

• Measuring cup

• Measuring spoons

• Medium-sized bowl (if you’re mashing by hand)

Ingredients

• 1 (15-ounce) can beans, drained and rinsed with cold water

• 1 garlic clove, peeled and finely minced

• ¼ cup olive or vegetable oil

• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 1 lemon)

• ½ teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions

1. Carefully, with the help of an adult, put the steel blade in the food processor.

2. Put all the ingredients in the food processor and process until completely smooth. If you are adding optional ingredients (see below), add them now, and pulse to combine.

   OR

   Put all the ingredients in the bowl and mash the beans with the potato masher or fork until they’re as smooth as you want them.

3. Taste the dip. Does it need a squeeze of lemon or a pinch more salt? If so, add it and taste again. Use right away or spoon into a lidded container, cover, and refrigerate up to 2 days.

Fancy That!

Add any of the following:

• Grated zest of 1 lemon, lime, or 1/2 orange

• ½ cup chopped fresh basil, parsley, or cilantro

• ¼ cup pesto or chopped olives

• 2 tablespoons chives, onions, or shallots

• 1- 2 tablespoons chili crisp (see post from 2 weeks ago)

Kitchen Playground: Cooking Methods, Times and Averages

There are 3 different methods for transforming the beans into a dip in the recipe. above: using a food processor, a potato masher, or a fork.

For this activity, you will time the different methods for mashing the beans. Make a table to record your results: put the method on the left, and the times on the right. Once you have finished recording your results, answer the questions below.

1. Which method took the longest amount of time?

2. Which method took the shortest amount of time?

3. What was the difference in time between the longest and shortest method (this is also known as the range)?

4. What was the average time of all three methods (this is also known as the mean)?

Bonus Question:

Do any other factors, like setup and cleanup, affect the times? How might including these change the overall timing of the recipe?