Look ma, no instant ramen - why it pays to teach kids to cook

Like many students, I ate poorly in college. The nadir was surely that summer I shared an apartment with friends who raided their fraternity kitchen to stock our cupboards. We lived on nacho cheese sauce from one-gallon cans, frozen Steak-umm slices and Pop-Tarts from 144-count packages. It still makes me shudder in disgust.

Now, my daughter, Mili, is a junior in college, but her meals are on a whole different level of nourishment and sophistication. She's become a skilled and intuitive cook who feeds herself well even while pinching pennies and coping with a heavy academic workload. While no longer a "kid," she's a shining testament to the benefits of teaching kids to cook.

Like a lot of tweens, Mili gravitated toward baking: cookies, cakes and brownies. She'd only help with meals when I insisted, which wasn't much fun for either of us, though some know-how sunk in anyway. She measured, chopped and sautéed. Crucially, she also learned how to taste and appreciate the balance of sweet, salty, bitter, sour and umami tastes.

I worked long hours out of the home, followed by a grueling commute. Mili's schedule was bonkers in high school, especially when the swim season overlapped with the show choir. She often had to figure out how to feed herself quickly. Junk food wouldn't sustain her as an athlete, so she expanded her repertoire beyond sweets: stir-fries, roasted veggies and grain bowls, smoothies, curries and entrée salads were in regular rotation. She learned how to boost the health quotient of convenience foods by adding frozen broccoli to mac and cheese or topping frozen pizzas with grilled vegetables.

When she moved into her first apartment, I bought Mili an Instant Pot multicooker. She looked up recipes online, made her list, and started making weekly trips to the local farmers market and Trader Joe's. She'd set aside one night for cooking her meals for the week. For her, cooking has become a stress-relieving activity, especially during the pandemic. When cooking for one, there are a lot of leftovers that will stretch across many days. The monotony was worth the time saving for her.

The cost savings vs. visiting the food truck or café astounded her. I remember the first thing she made was a lentil chili, and her grocery receipt was under $3 for six meals worth of deliciousness.

Maybe you know a college student who could use some inspiration to step away from the nacho cheese sauce. Here are a few favorite dishes Mili made this year, including the recipes she used. Some of these are as quick as 20 minutes to prepare, but all are under an hour as befits a busy person. They are inexpensive, comforting, yet nutritious meals that you and your kids could easily prepare for a family dinner.

• Leslie Meredith is the winner of the 2019 Cook of the Week Challenge and a mother from Arlington Heights. She runs School of Food out of her home. See the school's Facebook page @learngrowcookeat or contact Leslie at food@dailyherald.com.

Deb's Kale Salad with Apple, Cranberries and Pecans

For the salad

½ cup pecans

8 ounces kale

4 to 5 medium radishes

½ cup dried cranberries (or dried cherries)

1 medium Granny Smith apple

2 ounces soft goat cheese, chilled

Dressing

3 tablespoons olive oil

1½ tablespoons apple cider vinegar (or white wine vinegar)

1 tablespoon smooth Dijon mustard

1½ teaspoons honey or maple syrup

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spread the pecans on a baking tray. Toast them until lightly golden and fragrant, about 5 to 10 minutes, tossing them once or twice to make sure they bake evenly. Remove the tray from the oven and set them aside to cool.

Pull the kale leaves off from the tough stems and discard the stems. Use a chef's knife to chop the kale into small, bite-sized pieces. Transfer the kale to a big salad bowl. Sprinkle a small pinch of sea salt over the kale and massage the leaves with your hands by lightly scrunching big handfuls at a time, until the leaves are darker in color and fragrant.

Thinly slice the radishes (this is easier to do if you first chop off the root end so you can place the base of the radish flat against your cutting board). Add them to the bowl.

Coarsely chop the pecans and cranberries (or cherries) and add them to the bowl. Chop the apple into small, bite-sized pieces and add it to the bowl as well. Crumble the goat cheese over the top.

In a small bowl, whisk the dressing ingredients together and pour the dressing over the salad. Toss until the salad is evenly coated with dressing. Serve immediately, or for even better flavor, let the salad marinate in the dressing for 10 to 20 minutes beforehand.

Serves 4

Adapted by Cookie and Kate (CookieandKate.com) from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Perelman.

Sheet Pan Pesto Chicken Meal Prep Bowls

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 cup basil, packed

¼ cup Parmesan cheese

2 cloves garlic minced

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

3 chicken breasts, diced

1 cup mushrooms cut in half

1 cup cherry tomatoes

1 head broccoli, cut into florets

1 small zucchini, cut thickly

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a Magic Bullet, blender or food processor, blend 1 tablespoon olive oil, basil, parmesan cheese, garlic, salt and pepper together until smooth (you may need to add 1-2 teaspoons of water to get it to blend).

Add chicken and mushrooms to large sheet pan and toss with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of pesto. Bake in oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and drain excess liquid.

Add remaining vegetables and the rest of pesto. Toss to combine then bake another 10 minutes until chicken is fully cooked. Remove from oven and divide among 4 meal prep bowls. Keeps in fridge up to 5 days.

Serves 4

Talyor Stinson The Girl on Bloor blog (Thegirlonbloor.com)

Spicy Chickpea And Butternut Squash Curry With Coconut Milk And Turmeric

3 cups butternut squash, cut into cubes

3 to 4 baby bella or button mushrooms, sliced

1 large carrot, diced (about ¾ cup)

1 cup organic canned crushed tomatoes

3 cups spinach, kale or Swiss chard torn into bite size pieces

3 tablespoons coconut oil

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tablespoon ginger, finely chopped

Celtic sea salt

1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 teaspoon turmeric

¼ teaspoon black pepper

1 (13.5 ounce) can full-fat coconut milk

1 cup cilantro garnish (optional)

Lime wedges for garnish

Prep all the veggies.

Heat the coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and ginger. Season with salt and cook 3-5 minutes until the onion is translucent and starts to brown a little.

Add chickpeas and stir frequently until the chick peas begin to sizzle.

Add curry powder, turmeric and black pepper. Stir to coat the chickpeas.

Remove about 1 cup of chickpeas and set aside for garnish.

Add butternut squash, mushrooms and carrot. Stir to coat with spices.

Add the tomatoes and stir to combine.

Add coconut milk. Simmer covered on low heat for 15-20 minutes, until the butternut squash is tender. Stirring regularly.

Add spinach or other greens.

Cook, while stirring, until the spinach is wilted.

Divide among bowls and top with reserved chickpeas, cilantro and lime wedges to squeeze on top.

Serve alone or with rice or cauliflower rice.

Serves 4

Ingrid DeHart - EatWellEnjoyLife.com

Stuffed Peppers with Turkey and Vegetables

4 green bell peppers, tops removed, seeded

1 pound ground turkey

2 tablespoons olive oil

½ onion, chopped

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1 zucchini, chopped

½ red bell pepper, chopped

½ yellow bell pepper, chopped

1 cup fresh spinach

1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained

1 tablespoon tomato paste

Italian seasoning to taste

garlic powder to taste

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Wrap the green bell peppers in aluminum foil, and place in a baking dish. Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove from heat.

In a skillet over medium heat, cook the turkey until evenly brown. Set aside. Heat oil in the skillet, and cook onion, mushrooms, zucchini, red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, and spinach until tender. Return turkey to the skillet. Mix in the tomatoes and tomato paste, and season with Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Stuff the green peppers with the skillet mixture.

Return peppers to the oven, and continue cooking 15 minutes.

Serves 4

LSMITHNY21 on www.allrecipes.com