Image by Muffet

The other night I had a craving for cauliflower, which I love, and decided to make it pureed. It was one of the first chilly evenings of the new fall season, so I planned a menu of a whole, roasted chicken, pureed cauliflower and broccoli.

The chicken was done very simply, the way we usually do it in my house, with salt, pepper, fresh rosemary and olive oil on top and a lemon and onion stuffed inside.

The broccoli was also done simply: boiled until just tender and then tossed in some olive oil and chopped garlic. A little salt thrown on top.

The pureed cauliflower, while also very simple, involved a few more steps than the other dishes, so I’ve included the recipe for you:

Pureed Cauliflower

• 1 head of cauliflower
• 1/4 cup of milk
• 1 Tbsp. of butter
• Salt and pepper to taste

Cut cauliflower into florets and steam until florets are easily pierced with a fork. In a blender or food processor, puree cauliflower, 1/4 cup of reserved cooking water, milk and butter until you get the desired texture. Feel free to play around with the amounts of cooking water and milk to get the consistency you like. Serve with salt and pepper.

Another option, which I often do, but did not the other night, is to add freshly grated parmesan during the pureeing process. Fresh parmesan makes everything better in my opinion.

*This recipe is also great for young babies who are just starting on solid foods. It’s probably best to leave out the extra salt for young babies and don’t go too heavy on the pepper, but everything else about the recipe can remain the same.

My kids (ages 6 and 3) were very happy to be served chicken and gobbled that up no problem. Broccoli happens to be the only green vegetable my son (the 3-year-old) really likes, and so he ate a bunch of that. Broccoli also happens to be just about the only green vegetable that my daughter (the 6-year-old) really doesn’t like, so she didn’t eat much, if any, of that.

When it came to the cauliflower, I think both of the kids each had a little taste, but that was it. This is one of those times where the ‘Golden Rule’ of feeding, which states that kids need to see a new food 15 – 20 times before they’ll try it, applies. I don’t serve cauliflower too often, let alone pureed cauliflower, so I’ll give them a pass this time (and maybe the next 14 times as well – but no more than that!).

Photo by Princessrica

Yesterday morning I asked Lucie, my five-and-a-half year old daughter, what she wanted for dinner. Her reply: “spaghetti with a little sauce on the top and two meatballs on the side.” Okay so, spaghetti and meatballs. I was fine with that since it was chilly and rainy outside and it’s a quick enough meal to make.

I made dinner pretty quickly by using half store-bought and half homemade foods. The spaghetti was Barilla Plus, one of my favorite brands of pasta. The marinara sauce was from one of the many local Italian pork stores in my Brooklyn neighborhood, Esposito’s. The meatballs were homemade by me using about 90% of my mother-in-law’s recipe. And then I made broccoli on the side (steamed with fresh lemon juice and salt on top).

When I served Lucie she said, “that’s not how I wanted it” and she promptly moved one meatball to one side of her plate and the other meatball to the other side. She clearly had a picture in her mind of exactly what she wanted her dinner to look like when I had asked her that morning. So funny to me, but just goes to show you how particular kids can be about their food…even those who are considered ‘great eaters.’

Anyway, Lucie ate both of her meatballs, a bunch of spaghetti and a couple of pieces of broccoli. Ronan, my two-and-a-half year old son refused any meatballs and ate a bunch of spaghetti and a bunch of broccoli. I don’t really like broccoli. I much prefer broccoli rabe, and cook that often. But one day when I made broccoli I noticed that my son ate it up and particularly liked the tiny florets we dubbed ‘baby broccoli.’ Many of you know that my son is not a great eater. Do a search for “Ronan” on this blog and you will find numerous posts over the course of the first three months of feeding him solid foods when he literally would not taste a thing. So now that I know he enjoys eating broccoli, I am resigned to making it once a week or so.

Here is my “recipe” for meatballs. It may not be exact, but that’s the fun of it!:

• About 1.5 lbs. ground beef and pork mixed
• 1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 big handful of fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon of freshly ground fennel seeds (optional)
• Salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix with your hands until well-combined. Form into balls about the size of a golf ball and cook on the stovetop in a little olive oil. Turn the meatballs, browning on approximately three sides before dropping them into your favorite sauce to finish cooking.

I used about half the meatball mixture for last night’s dinner and froze the other half for another time.

For a more exact recipe, I always trust my friend Jennifer Perillo at In Jennie’s Kitchen:

Mama’s Meatballs