Actress Nina Bott shares her best recipes for picky kids in her new cookbook. There are three recipes here.
“That tastes disgusting”, “That looks funny” or “Yeah, green stuff!” – most parents probably know these sentences. Feeding children’s mouths with healthy meals and at the same time meeting the demands of picky young gourmets can be a Herculean task. The actress and presenter Nina Bott, 45, who is the mother of four children between the ages of two and 20, also knows this. In her new cookbook “Nina’s Easy-Peasy-Family-Cookbook” (Becker Joest Volk Verlag), she shares her best tips and proven recipes for little eaters. There are four recipes here.
Parsnip fries with curry applesauce dip
Ingredients: 1 kg parsnips, 2 tbsp rapeseed oil, salt, ground black pepper, ½ tsp curry powder, 150 g crème fraîche, 75 g plain yoghurt (3.5% fat), 2 tbsp unsweetened applesauce, 2 tsp curry powder, 1 tbsp agave syrup
Preparation: Preheat the oven to 220 °C top/bottom heat. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
For the fries, peel the parsnips, cut lengthwise into 5-8 mm thick slices and then into fries-shape.
Put the oil in a bowl and season generously with salt, pepper and curry powder. Add the fries and toss them well in the seasoning oil so that they are lightly moistened all over. Then arrange on the trays so that they do not overlap and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until crispy and golden brown. Turn once in between and open the oven door from time to time so that the steam can escape.
Meanwhile, for the dip, mix the crème fraîche with the yoghurt and applesauce. Mix in the curry powder and agave syrup and season the dip generously with salt and pepper.
Season the finished fries with salt to taste, arrange on plates and serve with the dip.
Sweet Potato Chickpea Handpies
Ingredients: 300 g sweet potato, 2 ½ tbsp olive oil, salt, freshly ground black pepper, ½ tin chickpeas (approx. 130 g drained weight), 2 spring onions, 1 clove of garlic, ½ bunch flat-leaf parsley, 1 tsp lemon juice, 60 g feta (45 % fat), 1 organic egg yolk (size M), 1 roll of rectangular puff pastry (approx. 275 g; from the refrigerated section)
Preparation: Preheat the oven to 200 °C top/bottom heat. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Peel the sweet potato and dice to a maximum of 2 cm. Place on prepared baking sheet, toss with 1 ½ tbsp oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes until soft.
Meanwhile, drain the chickpeas in a colander, rinse and drain well. Wash and trim the spring onions and cut into fine rings. Peel and crush or very finely chop the garlic clove. Rinse the parsley, shake dry and roughly chop the leaves.
Heat the remaining oil in a pan and sauté the chickpeas for 3-5 minutes over medium-high heat, lightly salting them. Reduce the heat, add the spring onions and garlic and sauté for a few minutes.
Mix in the parsley, lemon juice and some pepper. Remove the pan from the heat, crumble the feta and mix in. Remove the diced sweet potatoes from the oven (leave the oven on), place in a bowl while still hot and mash with the potato masher.
Mix the egg yolk with 1 ½ tbsp water. Spread out the puff pastry, cut into eight rectangles of the same size, cut them in half diagonally to make a total of 16 triangles. Brush the edges of eight triangles with egg yolk, place a heaping teaspoon of mashed sweet potato and chickpea mixture in the middle and flatten slightly (leave the edge free). Place a second triangle of dough on top of each, press the edges firmly with a fork and brush the surfaces with egg yolk as well.
Place the dumplings on the prepared baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes until golden brown. Remove and let cool slightly before serving.
Risi Bisi
Ingredients: 750 ml vegetable stock, 1 small onion, 1 clove of garlic, 1 tbsp butter, 1 tbsp olive oil, 50 g organic bacon cubes (optional), 250 g risotto rice, juice of 1 small organic lemon, 200 g frozen peas, 40 g parmesan, salt black pepper from the mill, 1-2 teaspoons organic lemon zest, 5 sprigs of flat-leaf parsley
Preparation: Bring the vegetable stock to the boil, then keep it warm over a low heat. Meanwhile, peel the onion and garlic clove, chop finely, place in a second saucepan with the butter and oil and heat, stir in the bacon if using and sauté for 3-4 minutes.
Add the risotto rice to the onion mixture and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes. Deglaze with lemon juice, then pour in a large ladleful of hot vegetable stock. Once the rice has absorbed all the liquid, stir in another ladleful of vegetable broth. Continue until the rice is soft but still al dente. This takes about 30 minutes. Stir the rice from time to time so that it doesn’t burn.
Add the peas and cook about 5 minutes before the end of the cooking time. Finely grate the Parmesan and stir in half of it. Season with salt, pepper and lemon zest, switch off the stove, put the lid on and let it steep for a moment.
Meanwhile, rinse the parsley, shake dry and chop the leaves, then stir into the rice. Divide the Risi-Bisi among four plates, sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan and serve sprinkled with pepper.