Latina’s May Recipes

Getting your
little ones to eat healthy foods can be a challenge. They crave chicken
nuggets; you want them to eat lean protein. They scream for ice cream; you
prefer they have fresh fruit. What’s a conscientious mom to do?

The good news is
that not everything that’s healthy is also bland, bitter, boring and/or
bad-tasting, which means the days of feeding your crying child
cardboard-flavored roughage you’d not likely eat yourself are over. Increased
availability of once hard-to-find ingredients and the rise of social media have
had tremendous effect on our collective food conscience, and have assisted in
the proliferation of delicious recipes that incorporate nutritious foods.

Among the early
advocates of kid-friendly, mom-approved recipes was Chef LaLa, who in addition
to operating her own catering service, is a certified nutritionist, cookbook
author, and mom. For the May issue of Latina
magazine, Chef LaLa created fun, healthy recipes that the whole family can
enjoy.

“Eating
healthier doesn’t mean you have to give up all of the foods you love. But
making small changes to how you cook can have a huge impact on your health,”
she says, and suggests baking, steaming and char-boiling instead of frying.

As to feeding a family, she points out
that meal planning is key. “Plan ahead so that you don’t cook from scratch
every day. For instance, make a roast chicken. I love to make them on Sundays
and later on in the week use up leftovers in pastas, enchiladas and chicken salads.”

One of the best chicken salads we’ve ever eaten is the Chicken Tostada Salad Chef LaLa created for Latina’s May issue.

Click
through to see what else Chef LaLa cooked up for Latina readers….

Sopa de Albóndiguitas