Simple Recipes - Fit for a Kid Fish Beds

This is a guest post by Jenna. At her blog food with kid appeal, she has great recipes and tips for eating healthy that will bring joy to the entire family. Not only does she have a great talent for cooking, she is also excellent at including her kids in the whole process of making a meal. Check out her blog for a wonderful collection of recipes and stories about the joy of cooking.

Our family “went organic” in February and with that came higher meat costs making fish affordable to eat regularly. Before the spring of this year I rarely prepared fish at home, and the boys had been offered fish only a handful of times. They had never really eaten it. I knew I’d have some work to do to get them on board with the new meat in the family. Drawing inspiration from an idea that turned up in my research for the nutrition class, I decided to use interesting plating to get the kids interested in fish.

On fish nights for the first couple months, I’d let the boys pile up their starchy side (rice, mashed potatoes, noodles), then flatten it out with a spoon, and lay some fish on top, in a bed. Then the veggies were trees (broccoli), or things in the fish’s room (green peas for balls) or covers (lay some green beans or wilted spinach on top). They got a kick out of putting their fish beds together. They didn’t complain about the meat interloper, but the first couple weeks they only tasted and nibbled the fish. By week three they were finishing a few bites of fish and in a couple months they would eat their serving. We don’t do fish beds anymore because they don’t need the extra encouragement. They usually gobble up their fish and ask for seconds before eating their starchy side or veggie. I’m about to the point where I need to fix each of them their own portion, instead of letting them share mine.

One concern many first time parents and parents of beginning eaters have is whether or not their kids are getting enough protein. Meat is tricky to chew and swallow for young children, which makes fish the perfect animal protein for them. Fish has other nutritional benefits, which you can read about in my recent post 5 reasons your kids should be eating more fish. Now it’s time for you to get cooking and tuck in some fish to enjoy with the family!

Any fish is fine, I suggest salmon and halibut because they are high in Omega 3s and have many other health promoting benefits. I list tilapia because it is growing in popularity and is affordable compared to other fish. It also has a mild flavor those who don’t usually appreciate fish can tolerate. I prefer salmon but buy tilapia as often due to price. I consider fish night in the “simple supper” category because it cooks in minutes and doesn’t involve much prep work. I often wish it wasn’t such a crowd pleaser in the family; left overs would flake up nice in a salmon salad sandwich or over greens in a tossed salad.

How to prepare fish for beds

Photo by Jenna

Ingredients

Salmon, Tilapia or Halibut fillets or steaks (skin on or off, aim at 3-6 oz per adult)
½ TBS Butter or olive/canola oil (just enough to coat bottom of non-stick pan, use more if not using non-stick pan).
Salt and Pepper to taste
Lemon wedges
Butter sauce (optional)

Method

Mix ½ TBS soft butter per person with some dried herbs (I like fennel), and a little lemon juice. Place butter mixture on a plate or plastic wrap into pats, pop it in the freezer while fish cooks. Place cold butter blobs on the fish after plating.

Time Saver Tip: You can make herbed butter in a large batch and freeze. Mix a stick of softened butter with lemon juice and your pick of dried or fresh chopped herbs and/or garlic. Form a log and wrap in wax paper. Put in freezer and slice off a couple pats with a sharp knife to add to steamed veggies or fish.

Heat pan on med-low, add butter/oil. Season fish with salt/pepper on both sides (if you’re not using the butter sauce, you can be more generous with salt/pepper). Place fish in pan and brown on one side. Check the thickness edge* of the fillet/steak for the “cooked” line to rise. The fish will change color losing it’s translucency as it cooks. Once it gets about half way, flip it. It won’t take long, a few minutes or more depending on how thick your cuts of fish are. Flip fish and brown on other side. 2^nd side will take less time, watch again for the “cooked” line to meet the first side’s line in the middle. If cooking with skin on, cook skin side first, and 2^nd side may take longer. If you’re new to cooking fish, here’s a tip. Fish is very delicate. It over cooks quickly, so pay attention when it’s in the pan. Your fish will be tender, tasty and flaky if you don’t over cook it. Remove to plate and let rest a few minutes before serving.

Serve butter pats and lemon wedges at the table for kids over 2. Kiddos love putting stuff on their food, let them squeeze the lemons, and place the butter pat on top.

Serve your choice of starchy side for the “bed” (mashed potatoes, noodles, rice,) and some steamed veggies (carrots, broccoli, green peas, sugar snap peas) to decorate the “room”. Let kids place fish on top of the starchy side and add the veggies. Help younger kids out by creating a story, ask older kids to use their imagination and tell you what the veggies represent.

Kid Appeal Tip If your kids are new to fish (or any protein source) don’t worry if they don’t go for it immediately. It often takes a dozen introductions for a new food to be adopted. Keep offering it, and each successive time you serve it, up the ante. For kids 2 and over, at first, ask them to taste/smell it. Next time your serve it ask them to taste it. Then ask them to finish a whole bite. Then a few bites. Then half their portion. Then all of it. Make it relevant by telling them fish builds strong muscles (protein) and grows brains (fat/omega 3). Illustrate why they want strong muscles (to run faster, to kick the soccer ball farther). Once they tolerate a bite of it, don’t offer more sides, dessert, after dinner snack, etc. until they’ve done some damage to their fish portion. In a few weeks or months you’ll have fish lovers!

*”thickness edge” is the not the top/bottom of the fish that touches the skillet but the side. You’ll see it without having to peek or lift up an edge of the fillet.

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