Little Bites
100 Healthy, Kid-Friendly Snacks
One hundred healthy recipes that kids—and busy parents—will love are beautifully presented and beg to be made.
In the same vein as publications and campaigns that hope to bring whole foods back to the family table, Little Bites presents one hundred healthy recipes for kids. Christine Chitnis and Sarah Waldman highlight flavorful superfoods through an eclectic array of drinks, breakfasts, lunches, sides, and desserts that double as snacks. For busy cooks, this freshly designed guide illustrates how to pack more fruits and vegetables into the day.
The book draws on familiar kid-friendly approaches through recipes that feature mini-meals baked in muffin tins, smoothies, homemade alternatives to store-bought treats like fruit leather and granola, and classics such as Cauliflower Mac-‘n’-Cheese Bites. It also reveals global inspiration in recipes such as Sweet Potato-Quinoa Nori Rolls. Helpful symbols denote recipes that are gluten, nut, or dairy free, and nutritional tidbits round out the pages. Color photographs feature rural settings and seasonal rhythms.
Chitnis, author of Markets of New England, and Waldman, a recipe developer and health counselor, are both working parents who bring realism to their selections. No time-consuming food art. No intentional masking of greens. No complicated ingredient lists. Chitnis and Waldman demonstrate a clear understanding of how kids truly graze, through recipes that acknowledge kids’ sweet tooths, the common need for satisfyingly crunchy textures, finger foods, and more. An emphasis on quality ingredients permeates the work, without the locavore movement’s intensity. The authors strike an appropriately encouraging tone for parents who simply want to make better choices.
In a field crowded with advice on getting sometimes skeptical kids to broaden their range, Little Bites takes a relaxed stance, admitting that “sometimes there will be flavors that just don’t appeal to a specific palate.” Suggestions for field trips to local farms and plant nurseries invite parents to help children grow excited about food. Most recipes also lend themselves well to cooking with children. The book’s clearly organized mission, however, isn’t the main draw. In what may be its best recommendation, these are beautifully presented, comforting recipes adults will yearn to try too.
Reviewed by
Karen Rigby
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
