A Solution for Picky Eaters: Deconstructed Dinners

I love watching reality TV, and as you might guess, one of my favorites is Top Chef. Every season on Top Chef, the chefs use high-faluting words like "deconstruction". One chef will usually get in trouble for deconstructing a meal too far and losing the unity. I finally figured out that "deconstruction" means to take the meal apart and show what's going on inside.

This seemingly fancy concept is also a great solution for feeding a picky eater. My normal philosophy is that I make one dinner a night, and the family's choice is to eat it or wait until breakfast. I'm not totally heartless. I always make sure we have plenty of bread or fruit or something at the table to fill up on, but I'm only cooking one dinner a night.

As a child, I hated onions. I would cut with the skill and the patience of a neurosurgeon to extract every last bit of onion from my mother's meatloaf. I was a master at examining spoonfuls of soup and chili to make sure that no onion parts were masquerading as celery. I do have some sympathy for my children's tastes and preferences. However, like my mother before me, I am unwilling to cater to these tastes except on occasion.

Once or twice a week, we have "deconstructed dinner" night. On these nights, I assemble all of the components of a meal, usually into small bowls. Then each person assembles their own (or tells me how to assemble them). I get to choose the ingredients that go out, so I feel good about what I'm serving. My kids get to choose what goes in to their particular dinner. I'm happy because I've put out a good meal, and the kids are happy because they're in charge of what they eat.

The absolute key to success is that I cannot get invested in which ingredients the kids choose. I make sure that the ingredients that go out are ones that I'd be okay if the child make a meal of only one ingredient. As long as my attitude is good, these dinners are some of the most fun ones we have. And by picking my ingredients carefully, I can also make them some of the easiest dinners we have.

Some ideas for deconstructed dinners:

• Build your own Burritos
• Pile on the Pasta:  Cook a basic pasta, like a bow-tie shape.  Heat up some red sauce.  Saute a few veggies - ideally seperately.  Heat a few frozen meatballs.  Put out some shredded cheese.  Leftover ingredients are a great mom-lunch the next day.
• Creative Quesadillas:  Put out deli turkey, deli ham, a couple of kinds of cheeses, thinly sliced apples or pears, thinly sliced tomatoes, chopped green onions (cooked for safety), roasted peppers or other veggies.  Each person chooses the ingredients for their quesadilla.  Leftover ingredients are great on a salad.
• Stuff a Panini:  Exact same concept as the quesadillas, but you grill the sandwiches or use a panini press.  Adding fruit like apples, pears, or mango works great with poultry and is a nice surprise.  Here's one for mom:  sliced turkey, brie cheese, thinly sliced apples, spinach leaves, and a hot sweet mustard.  Yum!
• Super-Special Sushi: This one is messy but fun! Make sushi rice.  Put out julienned veggies like carrots, zucchini, green onions, cucumber, onion, jicama.  You can also use cooked chicken (not traditional, I know!) and a bit of sushi-grade tuna for those who will truly appreciate it.  Also put out soy sauce, rice vinegar, and a bit of wasabi for those who like it.  Unless you're a purist, you're not really going to roll your own.  You can just make rice balls (well-oiled hands!) or rice bowls.