Growing Healthy Eaters: Part III
By Juliet Glass | 8/14/2006

In this exclusive, three-part series, weigh****chers.com talks with chef-author-mom Debra Ponzek about how to cook and eat good, healthy food with your kids; the idea behind her new book The Family Kitchen: Easy and Delicious Recipes for Parents and Kids to Make and Enjoy Together (Potter, June 2006). Ponzek has shared recipes, practical ideas and food-centric activities for bringing out the inner-chef in your kids and lending fresh enthusiasm to the task of cooking and eating well as a family.

Check out the other two installments in our Growing Healthy Eaters series:

- Plant a garden with your kids
- Visit farmers' markets, farm stands and working farms

This summer Debra Ponzek offered tips on how to get kids interested in healthy eating. She suggested planting a small garden together, shopping at farmers' markets and farm stands, and visiting working farms. As summer winds down and the school year ramps up, we asked her how this carefully cultivated interest could be maintained. Here are Ponzek's tips for making summer's bounty last into fall and beyond:

First of all, hit the farmers' markets for bumper crops. "It's fun to buy in bulk at the end of the summer. Get a bushel of super-ripe tomatoes and make sauce together and freeze it," Ponzek suggests. "In winter you'll pull some from the freezer and recall the memory of getting the tomatoes and making the sauce. And it will taste better than anything store-bought."

The same goes for vegetables like corn, peas and fava beans. "Just parboil, drain and cool them, then freeze them in plastic baggies until you're ready to add them to a dish." Since tasks like this are best done in bulk – you'll make the same mess on one batch as you would on five — it's a great time to call in the kids to help.

"I like to buy flats of berries, and a nice activity could be washing and freezing them. Again, when you use the berries, you'll think back to summer and remember when you got them."

Ponzek and her family also make easy spoonable jams, cooking down fruit with sugar, a touch of lemon juice, and maybe even a few fresh herbs. (Ponzek favors basil with strawberries, and a touch of tarragon with peaches.) "So long as you refrigerate the jam it will keep. My kids like to swirl it into hot cereals as a sweetener.




Ponzek is quick to point out that shorter days don't have to mean an end to farmers' market visits. In addition to late summer tomatoes, corn, peppers and the like, cooler weather ushers in a new wave of fruit and vegetable crops, including delicious varieties of apples and pears. Look for new favorites to incorporate into school lunches, the meal when kids are most likely to stray.

"When I was a kid, I didn't like my mother's school lunches, but I didn't say anything," Ponzek confesses. "I really want my kids to enjoy every meal, so I regularly ask them: 'Are you liking your lunches?' I'd rather know what they'd like to have. For instance, we found some great honey that my daughter loved, so we integrated it into a sandwich. My middle son, on the other hand, isn't a great eater. He loves separate components, so sometimes I pack him a little meat, whole wheat crackers and milk, or a warm pasta dish or rice and beans in a thermos."

Finally, Ponzek points out that growing healthy eaters is easiest if you take a balanced, holistic approach to food. "Whatever you preach and believe in, kids latch onto that. My kids feel good about eating well and they know why we do it, but they still get treats," she explains. "I don't pack cookies in their lunch, but if 90% of what you eat is good, then you can have some chocolate or ice cream. Kids appreciate boundaries – it means you care about them – and those boundaries carry over into food."
Zucchini and Corn Sauté
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients

* 2 Tbsp olive oil
* 1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
* 1 pound zucchini, ends trimmed, thinly sliced (1 large zucchini)
* 11/2 cups fresh or frozen and thawed corn kernels
* 4 scallions, trimmed, white and green parts thinly sliced
* 1/2 tsp ground cumin
* 1/2 cup chicken stock, low-sodium broth, or water
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
* Salt and freshly ground pepper

Instructions

1. In a large sauté pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the garlic, reduce the heat to low, and cook for about 1 minute, or until the garlic is golden brown.
2. Add the zucchini, raise the heat to medium, and sauté for 6 to 8 minutes. Add the corn and cook for 3 to 4 minutes longer, or until the corn is cooked and the zucchini is softened. Add the scallions and cumin and sauté for 1 minute longer to soften the scallions a little. Add the stock and bring to a simmer.
3. Season with cilantro and salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.

Note:
Both corn and zucchini, easy to find all year long, are especially good in the summer and have a natural affinity for each other, as demonstrated in this fresh-tasting dish zipped up with a little garlic and cumin. When I cook with my kids, I like to teach them about the natural order of things, including being aware of when fruits and vegetables are in season. Corn in particular is never better than in the summertime and so we love to make this when we can get it fresh from a farmers' market. I confess this is very good, too, made with frozen corn kernels.