Earlier this week, Aviva Kanoff wrote about quinoa, the superfood. Her blog posts have been featured on The Arty Semite courtesy of the Jewish Book Council and My Jewish Learning’s Author Blog Series. For more information on the series, please visit:

This year, you won’t have to bribe your kids to eat their vegetables. With so many colorful and exciting foods out there, they’ll be begging you for more! Can you blame them? With pictures of tri-color cauliflower, and dancing rainbow carrots, they’ll think dinner was created by Disney. Throw in easy-to-follow recipes and colorful pictures and watch out, they may even be cooking you dinner!

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Magic Spaghetti Squash

What kid doesn’t love a good magic trick?! Especially one they can perform themselves!

And, for just under a dollar a pound, it’s really a win-win situation. If you haven’t already guessed from the title of this paragraph, I’m talking about spaghetti squash, all natural and so healthy! Kids love pasta (and this looks just like it), and combined with the fun of shredding it themselves in under a minute, they won’t miss the 200 calories they are saving by avoiding the real thing.

Ratatoullie, the Dish, Not the Mouse.

Kids are familiar with the cartoon chef named Ratatoullie, but, little do they know, it’s also a healthy and delicious food! Maybe they can use a French accent while they are eating it too!

Pop Goes the Quinoa

Children will watch in amazement as the water disappears and the quinoa pops out of its seed during the cooking process. A great source of protein and fiber, and it’s also light and fluffy!

Please Eat the Flowers!

Who knew you could eat flowers? With recipes like stuffed zucchini blossoms and flowering chives, you can encourage something out of the ordinary and provide a unique experience at the dinner table. This will stimulate your child’s curiosity and make them excited and interested about food they’re eating.

Crayola’d Cauliflower

With cauliflower available in colors like purple and yellow, your kids will think dinner was brought to them by Dr. Seuss.

Dancing Rainbow Carrots

Add a touch of whimsy to your table with these iresistable rainbow baby carrots. If that goes over well, you can introduce them to rainbow chard too! And Finally, for Dessert…

Meet kiki-riki, the tsnius banana lady!

It’s not every day you see a lady with bananas on her head! Your kids will fall in love with this wild banana lady just like I did when I encountered her in a Jamaican jungle as she chased me with her machete. My recipe for banana muffins is so easy and a great way to introduce kids to baking. There’s no better way to incorporate the importance of Passover into their lives than through yummy food and hands on, interactive experiences.

Cajun Carrot Fries

Ingredients:

• 8-10 large carrots, peeled and cut into thin slices, like “fries”
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
• salt and black pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 450°.
2. Grease and/or line a large cookie sheet.
3. Toss the sliced carrots with olive oil, cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper.
4. Arrange the fries in a single layer on your baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, then flip the fries over and bake for another 10-15 minutes, until crisp. Serve warm.

Eggplant Parmigiana

Ingredients:

• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 1 large eggplant, sliced into ½ inch thick round pieces
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup matzoh meal or ground walnut (or half & half)
• 8 oz. mozzarella cheese
• 3 ounces goat cheese (if unavailable, substitute with additional mozzarella)
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Salt eggplant on both sides and leave for 30 minutes until liquid is released.
3. Crack and mix eggs in one bowl, and pour matzoh meal and/or ground walnuts and seasoning into a second bowl.
4. Dip eggplant slices of eggplant first in eggs, then in matzoh meal and/or ground walnuts.
5. Fry each slice in canola oil for 2 minutes on each side until soft.
6. In a 9×12 inch pan, create layers with eggplant, goat cheese, and tomato sauce (creates about 3 layers).
7. Top with mozzarella cheese.

Both recipes can be found in “The No-Potato Passover” (Brio Books; 2012 Hardcover $29.95).

Aviva Kanoff paints, teaches a mixed media art class, and dabbles in photography. Her creative approach to life led her to artistic experimentation with food, and after years of creating her own recipes and working as a personal chef, she wrote “The No-Potato Passover”

The Jewish Book Council is a not-for-profit organization devoted to the reading, writing and publishing of Jewish literature. For more Jewish literary blog posts, reviews of Jewish books and book club resources, and to learn about awards and conferences, please visit www.jewishbookcouncil.org.

MyJewishLearning.com is the leading transdenominational website of Jewish information and education. Visit My Jewish Learning for thousands of articles on Judaism, Jewish holidays, Jewish history and more.

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