Commuter Food:Get the kids cooking and they're more likely to eat their meals, writes Catherine Cleary.
As any parent knows, few things are more frustrating than the mouth that clamps shut in the path of an oncoming spoon. Our fussy eater puts a hand over the clenched-shut mouth as double protection against whatever new food looms his way.
If there were any justice, he would be munching bean sprouts and shouting "yum" by now. We have tried everything, from mashing real food when he was a baby to growing it. And, no, the idea that kids will always eat what they grow does not hold true.
There have been promises, bribes, elaborate games of trucks and tunnels and the latest attempt: a star chart whose shine is wearing off long before he makes it to the 20th star to get his reward.
When my heart is breaking as he pronounces proudly, "No, I don't eat fruit," I remind myself he does eat hummus and fish, and is a great man for the porridge. In small children's life, food is the one area where they have control.
For time-pressed parents, efforts to get good food into them without turning the table into a battleground can be fraught.
The family dinner should be a chance for busy people to unwind, relax and chat, especially in a commuter home where it is the brief respite between the return home and the trip upstairs to bed.
Involving a child in the cooking is too difficult on a weeknight in busy households. So here are three recipes that can be made with little chefs at weekends or when there is more time. But who said fun had to be confined to weekends? Allowing small fingers to sprinkle their favourite toppings on to a home-made pizza base during the week might make mealtimes more fun. Just draw the line at chocolate chips and jelly babies.
If nothing else, at least they will be involved in making home-cooked food that even the fussiest eater should enjoy.
CHEESY BURGERS
Makes eight
450g good minced beef
2 tbsp tomato ketchup (or, for a kick, sweet chilli sauce
1 egg, beaten
1 onion, very finely chopped
250g Cheddar cheese
Mix the beef with the ketchup (or sweet chilli sauce and the egg. Stir in the onion. Grate the cheese and add it to the mixture. (Or cut it up and press a chunk into the middle of each burger, for a melted-cheese centre.) Divide the burger mix into eight balls, then flatten each one down.
Freeze the burgers between layers of greaseproof paper. Remove them from the freezer on the morning of the day you want to eat them and allow them to defrost in the fridge. (Ensure they are thoroughly defrosted.) Cook under a hot grill or on a hot griddle pan until they are browned and cooked through.
HANDY PIZZA DOUGH
Makes enough for six individual pizzas
750g flour
pinch of salt
7g sachet of dried yeast
3 tbsp olive oil
warm water for mixing
Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl, then add the oil and enough warm water to make a soft dough that is not too sticky. Knead it briefly, until it turns elastic, then put the dough in a large bowl and cover with a tea towel. Put it somewhere warm for about two hours, until it has doubled in size. Then divide the dough into six balls for individual pizzas.
Freeze these; you can defrost them in the fridge for a few hours before rolling them into rounds and sprinkling with toppings. Try a good passata sauce with a variety of vegetables, such as mushrooms, peppers and cherry tomatoes, with child-friendly toppings such as bacon or sausages.
ALMOND RAISIN FLAPJACKS
These take five minutes to make. Yes, they contain some sugar, but they also have fruit and oats
150g porridge oats
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp golden syrup
100g butter
50g raisins
50g flaked almonds
pinch salt
Heat the oven to 180 degrees. Melt the butter, sugar and syrup over a low heat
in a large saucepan without letting them
boil.
Stir the oats, raisins and almonds into the melted ingredients.
Turn the mixture on to a flat baking sheet and press it down with the back of a spoon. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the top turns golden brown. Slice into bars while still warm.
Peter Ward, one of the slow-food movement's most ardent followers, and proprietor of Country Choice deli, in Nenagh, Co Tipperary, calls his signature fast dish "survival food". It is a bowl of colcannon soup, and he makes it when he comes home "hungry and cross".
He says: "After a bowl of it the world looks like a brighter place. You sweat off half an onion in a pan and look to see whatever veg you have in the fridge. Carrots or spinach or leftover vegetables from the night before are all good.
"Drop the vegetables in on top of the onion and a half-cup or cup of creamy colcannon. Pour in around two cups of home-made stock or make up one of the very good low-salt organic stock cube alternatives. Cook it all for a few minutes and then blitz it. If soup could stop wars, then this soup would."
His "most divine supper" is a flash in the pan. Take a lamb's liver, cut by your butcher into paper-thin slices, and flash-fry it in butter, so it is still pink. Put the liver to one side and caramelise some chopped onion in the butter; deglaze the pan with a dollop of cream. Throw the liver back on for a moment, to reheat. Serve topped with parsley or wild garlic.