Dinner in a Hurry: Quick Weeknight Dinners and How to Get Your Child To (Actually) Help

9/9/13 - By Rachel Becker

I'm going back to work full-time this month, which is terrifying, but I'm determined not to give up our family dinner time together; it's time we all need to reconnect, unwind, and besides, it's pretty hilarious when our two-year-old wants to clink glasses and say 'cheers'.  I have written about time saving meal swaps before, but what about the nights when it's just you, a toddler or two, and dinner that's not yet made, assembled, or otherwise prepared? Here are some easy ways to transform that hour before dinner from meltdown city into happy land (ok, most of the time).

OUR LATEST VIDEOS

How to choose what to make:
Cooking with a toddler is a little bit like cooking when you're in college: good, simple, cheap stuff works just fine. The recipes below take less than thirty means to prepare, and include simple ingredients.

Some general guidelines:
1. Start with simple quick cooking grains: couscous, israeli couscous, or pasta.

2. Add veggies: sauté onions, seasonal veggies

3. Add a protein: chick peas, lentils, pre-cooked chicken; bacon (is bacon a protein? Sure!)

4. Cheat. It's okay to have eggs and toast for dinner (see below). Enlist the slow cooker.

5. Wait until just before you eat to add things like sauce to pasta, or vegetables to rice. It's much easier to add sauce to pasta than to remove it.


How to involve your child in the kitchen:
One of the biggest obstacles to cooking with kids for me has been a safety concern: we have a smallish kitchen, sharp knives, and a gas stove. But there's lots of food prep that kids can help with; with a solid step stool and some adult supervision, they'll learn fast. Think about it as an investment in a future sous-chef. And kids who feel involved in the process of making a salad might just eat some of it (maybe).

1. Ask them to help you choose where possible. If you know you're going to make a green salad, let your child decide which veggies to add. Chop the veggies yourself (unless your child is older and can handle a knife), but let your child put tomatoes in a bowl, stir dressing, and arrange carrots and peppers. Ask questions: how does something smell? Feel? Taste?

2. Assign tasks. Our daughter is now our official table setter. She loves choosing which napkins go to which person on a given night, and springs into action when duty calls. She also can reach a few pots and pans and help me get ready to use the stove.

3. Be clear with your child about what is okay to touch, and what isn't. A mess is easy to clean up; an injury isn't.


Recipes

Israeli couscous with eggplant (adapted from Martha Stewart)

Ingredients
3/4 cup Israeli couscous
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound eggplants, cut into 1/2-inch chunks (if you're anti-eggplant just choose another veggie! Squash works well).
2- 3 shallots, trimmed and quartered (okay to substitute red onions)
2 teaspoons red-wine vinegar
1/3 cup lightly packed fresh basil, torn

1/2 cup feta cheese

Serves 4-6.

Directions:
Step 1 : In a small saucepan, combine couscous, 1 cup water, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil: stir once, and reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook until couscous is tender, about 15 minutes. Start this with your child, then move to a different part of the kitchen to chop eggplant. Let your child put chopped eggplant in a bowl.

Step 2: Meanwhile, in a large skillet with a tight-fitting lid, heat oil over medium-high. Add eggplant and shallots and stir to coat; season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook, stirring frequently, until shallots are caramelized and eggplant is cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes.

Step 3: In a serving bowl, you can combine eggplant mixture and couscous; set aside some plain couscous if your child might not like the veggies. Stir in vinegar and basil and season salad with salt and pepper.

Step 4: Top with feta. Our daughter loved adding feta cheese to her plain couscous.

Breakfast for dinner: Bacon and scrambled eggs with spinach

I love this meal because it has all four food groups. And because the first dish I learned to make was scrambled eggs.

Ingredients:
6 large eggs, scrambled
Baby spinach (1-2 bunches, washed and chopped)
2-4 tablespoons milk
Salt/pepper

Shredded mozzarella cheese (optional)
Bread or English muffins
4-6 strips bacon

Serves 3-4.

Directions:
Step 1: Put the bacon on medium low to cook. Use a back burner to reduce risk of splattering.

Step 2: With your child, crack eggs and take turns whisking them together. Add milk, salt, pepper, and cheese, if using.

Step 3: Pour eggs into a non-stick pan; turn onto medium-high heat. Add baby spinach and scramble into the eggs, turning down. Cook for 5 minutes.

Step 4: Make toast. Have your child put butter, pepper, jam (I know, weird, but my kid likes eggs and jam) and hot sauce on the table.

Slow cooked pulled pork with a side broccoli (adapted from Emeril Lagasse)

Slow cookers are a great investment, particularly in the fall and winter months, when hearty stews provide warmth and comfort. AND, you and your child can cook together before the day even starts. This recipe calls for homemade sauce, but you can use a readymade sauce too.

Ingredients:
for the roast:
1 boneless pork butt (about 4 lbs)
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup chicken broth

for the barbecue sauce:
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup ketchup
3 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
1 tablespoon molasses
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

Broccoli, to steam (about 1-2 heads).

Serves 6-8 (awesome for leftovers).

Step 1: Place chopped onions, roast, and broth in slow cooker. Cook on low for 6 hours. Some slow cookers have a timer which will switch from 'low' to 'warm'.

Step 2: Mix ingredients for sauce together in bowl and set aside.

Step 3: Once roast is done, remove from slow cooker, and shred, discarding fat as you desire. Put shredded meat back in the slow cooker and adjust to warm.

Step 4: Add barbecue sauce (as much or as little as you'd like).

Step 5: Steam broccoli for 5-7 minutes.

Serve with bread or rolls.


And finally, a few miscellaneous tips, learned the hard way:

- Make a weekly meal plan. Even if you think only super type A types do this, a meal plan provides some structure, and gets you off the hook for the question, "what's for dinner?" It can be simple: pasta one night, burgers, etc.

- Cook enough of whatever for leftovers. They make great lunches, or later-in-the-week dinners when you just don't have the energy.

- Save the ambitious stuff for weekends.

- Have a back up. We always have frozen pizza and frozen veggies on hand, because our daughter eats them, and because…it's just good to have a back up.

- Keep your phone out of the kitchen. This will be good for your phone (which won't take a bath in olive oil), and provide you with a welcome break from distraction.


Photo by the author.