In the past couple of months of hunting down recipe's that would appeal to teenagers I have complied these ones! Below are nine teen friendly recipes. All are nutritious and in there own circumstances are not time consuming. Therefore, dinner recipes may be a tad longer to prepare. Each recipe has been modified for nutrition if necessary, and each is appealing in terms of accessibility, familiarity, and individual preference which is outlined below each one.
Initially I had ten recipes, though I ended up eliminating one. The recipe eliminated was a roasted tomato recipe dish. It was eliminated as requested by my dinner party attendants who voted that as the dish they wouldn’t recommend to others.
All the recipes have been modified for one or two servings. (With the exception of corn chowder……its so good everyone needs to have taste.)
Snacks
Mozzarella, Cherry Tomato, and Basil Sticks
¬ 4 cherry tomatoes
¬ 4 basil leaves
¬ 4 (1/2 inch) cubes of low fat mozzarella (or your favorite cheese)
¬ Dip:
¬ 2 tablespoon low fat plain yogurt
¬ 2 tsp. green pesto
Mix dip ingredients, thread tomatoes, mozzarella, and ribbon basil on a skewer!
Modifications: none, this was taken out of a very super duper healthy cook book for kids!
How is this appealing?: Very easy, package friendly, a everything energy snack (protein, fat, carbohydrate, plus vegetable fibre), can switch in gradients around, easy to make in small or large quantities,
(Recipe taken from Top 100 Recipes for a Healthy Lunch Box 2007)
Easy Cucumber Sandwiches
¬ 2 slices whole grain pumpernickel bread cut in to 8 squares
¬ Low fat cheese or slice meat of your choice
¬ 8 thick slice of cucumber
¬ Dill
Assemble, cheese or meat, on bread. Cucumber and sprinkle with dill.
Modifications: it calls for cream cheese, I replaced this with a hard cheese or meat. The meat to give this snack a protein edge, also because the I found the pumpernickel to be very overpowering which the cream cheese doesn’t hide well. A harder stronger cheese would do a better job taste wise entirely. It also asked for the use of crackers, from past fancy sandwich experience I find that pumpernickel is a good dense bread that makes this snack a little fancier. Of course if you’re the cracker type that change can be made quite quickly.
How is this appealing?: I would like to say everything and leave it at that! More specifically though….its very easy, very package friendly, good quick snack away from home, fun, familiar tastes, and did I mention its easy..
(Recipe modified from Company’s Coming: The Rookie Cook 2006)
Lunch Meals
Chicken with Pita and Hummus
¬ ½ cup chicken breast cut up in chunks
¬ 1 pita pocket
¬ 1 teaspoon lemon juice
¬ ½ garlic clove
¬ ½ teaspoon cumin
¬ ¼ teaspoon turmeric
¬ ½ cup yogurt
¬ ½ cup hummus
¬ ¼ of a mangos
¬ ¼ of a cucumber
¬ ¼ of a tomato
¬ ½ cup shredded lettuce
¬ Taste cilantro (optional)
¬ Taste salt
Mix lemon juice, garlic, cumin, turmeric, salt, and yogurt in bowl. Toss chicken in mixture. Heat a little olive oil and pan and fry chicken till juices run clear. Warm and cut open pita lengthwise, stuff with hummus, mangos, cucumber, tomato, lettuce, and add cooked chicken.
Modifications: none, this was a fabulous recipe to begin with.
How is it appealing?: Lots of flexibility with the recipe (if you don’t have an ingredient you can eliminate it), quick, packaging friendly, if you’re not used to spices or turmeric (which is cancer fighting by the way) you can virtually just throw cooked chicken in without messing with seasoning. In fact for my dinner party, I didn’t bother coating the chicken as it didn’t match with the aspect of familiarity.
(Recipe modified from Cooking Up a Storm: The Teen Survival Cookbook 2006)
Zucchini and Cream Cheese Sandwich
(I love this sandwich so much! I ate it three days in a row after finding the recipe)
¬ 1 length of Zucchini
¬ Sea Salt
¬ ½ teaspoon Low Fat Cream Cheese
¬ 1/8 of whole grain baguette (a good length for a sandwich for one)
¬ Parsley or cilantro (optional)
Pre heat pan or grill. Brush each side of the zucchini with a dab of olive oil and lay down on hot pan or grill, sprinkle with salt and cook both sides. Slice bread in half, and spread with low fat cream cheese, layer on zucchini add herbs if wanted. Eat closed or open!
Modifications: Again I felt the oil amount in the original was far to high, therefore I eliminated it out of the ingredient list all together and included it as a ‘dab’. I prepared the zucchini without any oil, you just have to watch the pan closely to prevent burn-age.
How is this appealing? : very flexible recipe, can add meat, take out zucchini and replace with another cooked vegetable (carrots, egg plant, mushrooms, tomato, bell peppers, or raw vegetables if you like). Easy, package friendly, familiar tastes, and it’s a little fun.
(Recipe modified from Cooking Up a Storm: The Teen Survival Cookbook 2006)
Dinner Meals
Mediterranean Chicken
¬ ½ cup crumbled low fat feta
¬ ½ cup chopped black olives
¬ 2 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
¬ 3/4 cup salsa
¬ 1 ½ cup spinach
¬ Black pepper
¬ 1 teaspoon olive oil
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Combine feta and olives in bowl. Rinse chicken, and make a 2 inch slit with a sharp knife in the thickest part of the breast, to form a pocket. Spoon the feta and olives in each pocket. Season each with black pepper. Place the olive oil in a hot pan, brown each breast on both sides, transfer to baking dish and bake till cooked (15-20 minutes). In a clean pan warm salsa; add spinach and toss till barely wilted. Place chicken on plate with a side of salsa and spinach.
Modifications: I eliminated the teenage simply because I felt it might not be readily available in a teenage household. And slashed the oil once again by half.
How is this appealing?: Really quick and easy for supper, easy to find ingredients, flexible again (you can modify what you fill the chicken with), familiar ingredients, slightly different preparation, you could use a meat substitute (stuff pieces of marinated tofu), milk substitute (soy cheese or find a another vegetable to stuff the chicken with), and it’s a really fun recipe.
(Recipe modified from Real Simple Meals Made Easy 2003)
Corn Chowder (larger portions, b ecause this is a good refrigerator meal for the next day or share it with family!)
¬ 1 small onion
¬ ½ red bell pepper
¬ 1 large red potato
¬ 1 tablespoon canola oil
¬ 3 tablespoons flour (optional)
¬ 1 can of corn (with juice)
¬ 3 cups of milk
¬ Salt
Peal onion and dice in to small pieces. Remove pepper seeds, dice, peel potato dice. Place onion, pepper and butter in large sauce pan and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes (stirring occasionally). Add flour if using, cook for 1-2 minutes till bubbly. Add corn and can liquid, stir till completely mixed in to flour (if using). Add one cup of milk, stir till smooth, add remaining cups of milk. Cook for 10-15 minutes stirring occasionally until just about to boil. Season with salt, pepper, decrease heat and cook for an additional 10 minutes.
Modifications: I made the addition of flour optional. The flour is traditionally used to make the chowder thicker; however I find this as an unnecessary addition of refined flour in to a healthy meal. The New Moose Wood Cookbook, essentially the god of healthy cookbooks, never has flour as an ingredient in any of their soups or chowders. The soups end up being just as tasty, even though being a little thin.
How is this appealing?: this soup is incrediably tasty, I’ve given it a review in a previous blog, good time for a supper meal, easy, no odd ingredients, very familiar tastes, a hearty recipe for those low mood days, and its really colorful!
(Recipe modified from Teens Cook: How to Make What You Want to Eat 2004) )
Stuffed Pepper
(An hour before my guests arrived for the dinner party I realized I didn’t have a very protein full main meal for my vegetarian attendants. I quickly put some protein loaded cottage cheese in a pepper with the Mediterranean chicken mix and it turned out to be well liked)
¬ One bell pepper hollowed out
¬ ½ cup of cottage cheese (the dry kind please!)
¬ 2 mushrooms
¬ ½ a tomato
¬ 2 olives
¬ Salt
¬ Pepper
¬ Dry Italian dressing mix
Dice the mushrooms and tomatoes, mix with the cottage cheese and dry Italian dressing mix. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stuff the pepper with the cottage cheese mixture broil for 7-10 minutes.
How is this appealing: package friendly, easy, quick, vegetarian, protein full, familiar tastes, and flexible! You can throw in some cooked meat if you really wanted.
Sides
Candied Carrots
¬ 1 tablespoon olive oil
¬ 1/8 cup maple syrup
¬ ¼ cup water
¬ ¼ teaspoon salt
¬ 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
¬ 10 carrots (halved lengthwise)
¬ 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the maple syrup salt, cayenne, and ¼ cup of water and bring to a boil. Add the carrots and return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, turning on occasion. Cook till carrots are tender. Place in oven proof pan and bake at 300 degrees F for 15-20 minutes. Drain carrots out of liquid, season with black pepper.
Modifications: Maple syrup and fat were slashed in half, I felt at the end of preparing it there was too much syrup at the bottom.
How is this appealing?: Taste, recommended for taste, simple recipe, classic dish (familiarity), time wise its pretty quick, and lastly there is lots of flexibility with this dish. You can eliminate flavors and tastes to your preference. As a side note, the carrots also taste fabulous cold so they make for an excellent next day lunch.
(Recipe modified from Real Simple Meals Made Easy 2003)
Chicken Salad with Peaches and Favorite Cheese
(The recipe originally called for blue cheese, which didn’t appeal to the many teenage mouths, especially my mouth!)
¬ 1 cup spinach or romaine lettuce (cut cross wise)
¬ 1/3 cup roasted skinless chicken (optional)
¬ ½ fresh peach or ½ cup of canned peach (no juice)
¬ ¼ your favorite cheese, diced
¬ Dressing:
¬ ¼ cup white vinegar
¬ ¼ cup cranberry juice
¬ Salt
¬ Pepper
Mix vinegar, cranberry juice, salt, and pepper for dressing. Separate bowl, toss lettuce, chicken, peach and cheese. Yay done!
Modifications: Eliminated blue cheese, a tad to strong for myself and recommend by two of my dinner party attendants. I changed the dressing recipe, which originally called for olive oil. I recently tried out the dressing above, which would work perfectly with the romaine or spinach.
How is this appealing?: for those on a health buzz this is a really nice salad, quick, easy, package friendly, flexible, and essentially all the ingredient can be found at home.
(Recipe modified from Real Simple Meals Made Easy 2003)
All of these recipes have tons of flexibility. A lot of them done have animal meat, (which could be my personal bias), however can definitely be added or traded to virtually all of the recipes.
