Toddler Cafe - Jennifer Carden [25]
this is a great way to flavor a meat dish; if your little one won’t eat meat, try this one—the apple flavor disguises it very well. serve them up one at a time so children are not overwhelmed; if they like it, serve up a few more. have them be the king of the rings and eat them up to keep them safe in their tummy.
lord of the apple rings
makes about 6 servings
ingredients
Cooking oil spray or melted butter
½ cup dried breadcrumbs or hazelnut meal (see note on page 94)
4 ounces raw bulk chicken-apple sausage (see note on page 94)
¼ cup thawed and drained frozen spinach
1 egg, beaten
1 Granny Smith apple, cored and sliced into ¼-inch rings
Ground cinnamon, for dusting
preparation * Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper and spray with cooking spray or brush with oil. Set aside.
Mix together the breadcrumbs, sausage, spinach, and egg in a medium bowl. Set aside. There should be a hole in the center of each apple ring. Place the rings on the baking sheet and spray or brush each with oil or melted butter. Using a small cookie scoop or teaspoon, make 1-inch balls of the meat mixture and place one in the hole of each apple ring. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the meatballs are firm to the touch.
Place on a plate, dust with cinnamon, and serve.
variations
If you are crunched for time, use canned pineapple rings in water instead of apple slices. Dry them off with a paper towel before cooking, following the same procedure for cooking as on previous page. Pineapples and apples can also be grilled first before filling, for a different and delicious flavor.
toddler tip
Use plain yogurt as a dipping sauce. Ask your kids to stack the rings in a tower and see how high they can go; everything that falls has to be eaten.
recipe notes
Nut meal is simply finely ground nuts; some stores sell it. To make your own, grind nuts in a food processor, stirring frequently to loosen the clumps. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer.
If you can’t find bulk sausage, just remove the casings from uncooked link sausage.
tom ka gaiis a popular thai soup. this is a simple and fast scaled-down version. if you have leftover chicken, diced mushrooms, or angel hair pasta, toss it in. the best thing about this soup is that it is warm and soothing on a cool day; let them sip it out of a cute mug. make sure you grate the ginger, since biting a chunk will be too spicy for little mouths. add chopped, cooked swiss chard or fresh baby spinach leaves to the broth to change it up. pretend you are in a faraway place sipping this soup.
thai’d up soup
makes 1 serving
ingredients
½ cup chicken broth
¼ cup unsweetened coconut milk (see note)
Pinch of kosher salt
Frozen peeled fresh ginger root (see note)
preparation * Heat the broth in a child-safe mug by microwaving it on high for about 1 minute. Add the room-temperature coconut milk and salt. Grate 1 or 2 passes of ginger on a micro grater over the cup. Stir and serve.
variation
Next time, try adding a squeeze of lime. Or add ¼ teaspoon of yellow curry powder to the soup.
recipe notes
Freeze leftover coconut milk in ice cube trays by the tablespoon so when a recipe calls for it, you will know exactly how much to use. Transfer the cubes to a container and store in the freezer. Add to rice, soups, or smoothies.
Keeping fresh ginger around can be tricky; it dries out or gets moldy fast. To have it always on hand, try this method: Peel it with a carrot peeler or scrape the peel off with the tip of a teaspoon, cut it into chunks, and freeze. Whenever you need it, just grate the frozen ginger using a micro grater. If using for a stir-fry, thaw it slightly and chop it into coins.
these wontons look like floating ghosts! they are mild in taste and sloppy to eat. once your kids learn to love this soup, they may want to be adventurous and order wonton soup when you go out. try floating very small pieces of frozen spinach in the soup, too. make a game out of it, and try to