Sweet Red Pepper Linguine

When I first started giving Solomon and Celia solid foods, choosing what foods to offer them first and how to prepare them felt like a daunting responsibility. Somehow popping the lids off of factory-sealed jars of baby food didn't feel quite right, but no one had ever taught me how to cook for a baby. I followed my instincts and muddled through, starting the kids out on simple whole foods like bananas, cooked and pureed carrots, and avocados, and progressing pretty quickly to feeding them bits of the meals we were eating.

As a new parent and a food lover, I longed for a guide to raising kids who would grow to enjoy a variety of foods. What I could have used in my kitchen at the time was the stunning new cookbook and guide by Fanae Aaron, What Chefs Feed Their Kids: Recipes and Techniques for Cultivating a Love of Good Food. (Lyons Press, 2012). 

Aaron, who is a Hollywood art director for commercials and movies, wrote the book to help answer some of the questions she had as a first-time mother about feeding her son, Cody. She interviewed 20 award-winning chefs about their own strategies and techniques for raising healthy and adventurous eaters. For who better to guide us along the path of feeding our children well than renowned chefs, who spend so much time contemplating and preparing food?

The book is full of tantalizing recipes (and gorgeous photos) for the whole family from the chefs Aaron interviewed (who are also parents), including Cauliflower and Parmesan Macaroni, Shaking Beef, Curried Chickpea Salad, Honey Ginger Ice Cream, and Warm Roasted Nectarines.

Just as valuable for parents of young children are tips from the chefs and from Aaron on feeding babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. Here are a few of the many words of wisdom from the book for parents of toddlers:

• Share your food
• Toddlers like to be helpful and involved
• Make food fun
• Play smelling games
• Eat at ethnic restaurants
• Try to avoid being a short-order cook

The book encourages parents, from chefs to new cooks, to include children in gathering, preparing, and eating meals as a family. While many parents slip into a routine of feeding toddlers separate meals of bland foods like pasta with butter, chefs bring their children to the table with them, introducing them early on to foods with the complex textures and flavors that they themselves enjoy, according to Aaron.

Your family will enjoy the flavor, texture, and colors of this 5-ingredient pasta.  Chef Jimmy Schmidt, father of three boys, three-time James Beard Award winner, and owner of the Rattlesnake Club restaurants in Denver and Detroit, created the recipe.