A few years back I read an article that said the average family eats the same five meals every week. At first I was astounded, but then I realized that people slowly close down their diet through a succession of choices:
- What’s easiest?
- What’s quickest?
- What’s cheapest?
- What will everyone like?
For young busy families this can happen easily, but as we grow, learn and expand our lives we need to consider expanding our meal repertoire as well.
Here is a way to step out of your family’s dietary rut.
Make one meal a week a culinary adventure. PLAN to make something completely different; new ingredients, new cooking methods, new look, new tastes. Everyone in the family must understand that the meal is an adventure. Have everyone pretend they are judges on a TV cooking show. Everyone is to be an “observant eater.” This is different from being a picky eater. Foods are to be observed and judged on specific criteria, and are NOT allowed to be summarily deemed “bad.”
Here are some criteria to consider.
- Color: Are the colors inviting? Do they compliment each other? Are there a variety of colors? Imagine serving poached cod, steamed cauliflower and boiled rice on the same dish…
- Texture: What is the texture of each food? Smooth, chunky, chewy, tender, tough, gristly, crunchy…
- Flavors: What is the flavor of each part of the meal? Do the flavors go together?
- Aroma: Just because a dish smells different doesn’t mean that it’s bad. Since aroma and taste are closely related you probably want to discuss aroma and flavor together.
If your family struggles to find words other than yum & yuck to describe food, check out this link. Dinner could become a vocabulary building experience too!
Presentation: Make this dinner a showstopper. Take time to “plate” your meal and pretend you’re at a big fancy restaurant. Play with garnishes and sauces. They can change the color, flavor and aroma of a meal. Set the table, put on some background music and put the electronics on silent for an hour. YOUR gourmet culinary show is about to begin!
In order to keep one cook from being continually pressured, make the meal a group effort. Plan the meal with everyone’s input. If there’s a food one person really wants to try this week, go with it, knowing that next week someone else’s choice will be considered. Delegate different parts of the meal so that everyone owns part of the experience, or rotate responsibility for the adventure, something like having a rotating guest chef.
Even if a meal doesn’t provide the “comfort” of your usual menu, everyone can appreciate the time, effort and adventure of the preparation. Who knows, if everyone really loves it, it could take a place in your families top five!