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Meals Kids Might Eat:
Things To Do with Noodles
by Jyotsna “Jo” Sreenivasan, from the July 2006 newsletter
Kids tend to love noodles. That’s good, because noodles provide protein, fiber, complex carbohydrates, B vitamins and minerals.
Unfortunately, kids are often not very adventurous about what they want to put on their noodles. We have friends whose kids like their noodles with nothing but butter and ketchup! My older son tends to like tomato sauce on his noodles, but one time the sauce was “too chunky” (there were recognizable pieces of tomato in it), and he wouldn’t touch it.
If you’d like to expand your child’s noodle repertoire, try these recipes. The Indian version is my mother’s recipe, and as with all her recipes, it is very mild.
Spaghetti Pie
(from Honest Pretzels by Mollie Katzen)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
8 oz. uncooked spaghetti
1 1/2 cups tomato sauce
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup grated mozzarella or Monterey jack cheese
Extras, such as basil leaves, sliced black olives, sliced mushrooms or 1/2 cup bell pepper slices
Break spaghetti into pieces and cook according to package directions. Or, you can cook the noodles whole and then snip them with clean kitchen scissors into short strands.
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Pour tomato sauce onto spaghetti, and sprinkle in the parmesan cheese. Add any extras you’d like and stir everything together. Oil a 10-inch deep-dish pie pan with the olive oil. Pour the spaghetti mixture into the pie pan. Sprinkle the top with the grated mozzarella or jack cheese. Bake for 30 minutes. Cut pie into wedges and serve.
Cheese Sauce for Noodles
(from The New Laurel’s Kitchen by Robertson, Flinders and Ruppenthal)
My husband made this dish one day when my son had a guest. My son didn’t like it, but his friend loved it!
1 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. flour
1 cup hot milk
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup grated cheese (parmesan or whatever you like)
Melt butter in pan. Stir in flour and cook three minutes over low heat, stirring constantly. Do not allow the flour to burn. Add hot milk slowly while stirring. Bring the mixture to a low boil to thicken the sauce. Stir in the cheese and heat until melted. Serve over noodles.
Mom’s Mild Indian-Spice Noodles
This is a variation on a popular South Indian snack dish called “upma.” It
is most often made with cream of wheat, but it can also be made with noodles.
8 oz. angel hair or spaghetti noodles
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. black mustard seeds
1 small onion, peeled and chopped (green onions work too)
8 oz. frozen vegetables (we often use peas and carrots)
1 tsp. minced fresh ginger
Dash of turmeric
2 Tbsp. chopped cilantro leaves
1 tsp. salt, or to taste
Break noodles into halves or thirds and cook according to package directions. In a large saucepan, fry the mustard seeds in oil. Be careful here—the mustard seeds pop! Cover the pan with a lid after you add the seeds to the oil. When you hear the faint popping sound, lower the heat or even turn the stove off. You don’t want the mustard seeds to burn. Once the popping sound dies down, open the pan and add the onions. Turn the stove back on if you’ve turned it off.
Stir-fry the onions for a few minutes. Add vegetables, ginger, turmeric, cilantro leaves and salt and stir briefly. Add 1/4 cup of water, cover the pan, turn heat to low and steam for a few minutes until the vegetables are soft. If there is still water in the pan, leave the lid off and simmer so the water evaporates. Add the cooked, drained noodles. Stir to mix, and heat through for a minute or so.
Note: In terms of the vegetables, can also use broccoli, cauliflower, bell pepper or green beans. Chop whatever vegetable you use into pea-sized bits. You can also try this dish with orzo, which is a tiny rice-shaped pasta, instead of the spaghetti or angel-hair pasta.
Japanese Noodles with Nut-Butter Sauce
This dish is based on my memory of a recipe from The Book of Whole
Meals by Annemarie Colbin. I seem to have misplaced the actual book,
but I think this is a fair approximation. Even though these noodles feature
a kid favorite—peanut butter—my kids don’t
like them! But my husband and I love them. Maybe your kids will be more adventurous.
You can find the Japanese noodles in the ethnic foods aisle of the Co-op.
Cook noodles according to package directions. While noodles are cooking, mix 1 Tbsp. of water into the peanut butter. Keep stirring until the mixture turns smooth. Stir in the soy sauce. If the sauce is too thick, add another tablespoon of water. Drain the noodles and combine with the sauce. Garnish with as many scallions as you like.8 oz. soba or udon noodles
1/3 cup peanut butter (or tahini or any other nut butter)
1-2 Tbsp. water
1-2 Tbsp. soy sauce
Scallions or green onions, chopped, for garnish
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