Culinary Hide-And-Seek
Okay, I confess. I am one of those moms that will hide things in her children’s food. I am not ashamed of this.
I have had a few openly tell me in the past that I was not teaching good eating habits to my children. But you know, those people probably never tried to feed a picky eater. I hide a little, offer a little. There is a delicate balance that needs to be maintained when feeding a child and I respect that.
Fooling A Picky Eater
So, the other day I was craving three things with a ferocity that rivaled a bear after honey: I really wanted some pasta, greens and goat cheese. I woke up thinking about it, sat and thought about it at work, and while running after school I had put together a plan.
The problem was I knew my oldest would pitch a fit. I was not in the mood for his “20 questions about what was in the food” fun time. Never fear, I am not afraid of that. So while he was at swimming I made this quick little sauce so I could get rid of the evidence before he got home.
Talk about nutrient-packed. I used a mix of legume-based pasta and whole wheat. My green of choice: spinach. This meal was filling and satisfied my need for goat cheese, greens and pasta all on one plate.
Feeling confident, I plated his dinner. He just looked at me like I was an idiot and said, ” Okay, Mom. I know there must be something in here that I don’t like. What is it?” I smiled and assured him there was no trick and I promised he would like it.
Not only did he like it, he asked for more.
Penne With Creamy Spinach And Goat Cheese Sauce
Ingredients
- Kosher salt
- 1 pound penne pasta of your choice
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 ounces Chevre goat cheese or other soft goat cheese of your choice
- 1 ounce reduced-fat cream cheese
- fresh pepper
- 6 ounces fresh baby spinach
- reserved pasta water to thin sauce
- fresh grated Parmesan for garnish
Cooking Directions
- Cook pasta according to the directions and reserve 1 cup of the water.
- Meanwhile in a food processor, mince the garlic and salt. Add the cheeses and pulse a few times. Then add 3/4 of the spinach leaves and pulse until smooth. At this point you may want to add a little of the pasta water to thin your sauce.
- Add this to the drained pasta and toss to coat.
- I served this on a bed of spinach that was lightly drizzled with olive oil. We also had leftover grilled chicken so this was a complete meal.
