When Karen Kero steps into the kitchen to cook, she is often joined by her seven-year-old daughter.
"I always hear the chair dragging across the room," says Kero.
The mom of three notes that her kids have been exposed to lots of cooking from an early age, and the two youngest ones are now particularly interested in helping out with meals.
Kero is happy to teach her kids everything she knows, and says learning how to make healthy food from scratch is a good way to teach kids about nutrition.
"We are conscious nowadays of what we eat but everybody is really busy," she says. "It really is an important life skill."
Kero has turned her love of cooking into a business called KidCooks, which has ongoing classes for kids ages four to 14, and says it's easy to get kids started in the culinary arts.
Washing salad and chopping vegetables are simple ways for kids to start helping out in the kitchen, and Kero recommends families try to make at least one meal together a week. Homemade pizzas are a particularly easy recipe for families to work on. Baking is also a great way to involve kids in the kitchen, and cracking eggs and helping to mix batter are easy first steps.
"Whenever an apron comes on and there's flour on the counter, they know something good is going to happen."
Kero says teaching kids in the kitchen should be age appropriate, and all kids should be taught kitchen safety and proper techniques, such as how to use a knife safely, before being allowed to help out.
This September, Kero is planning to involve her kids in making their own school lunches. To get them started, she plans to portion out snacks in the fridge, such as veggies and hummus or crackers and cheese, ahead of time and then let the kids select what they want for their lunches in the morning.
Kero says leftovers, such as pasta from the night before, are a good option for school lunches, and she recommends parents invest in a good-quality flask for leftovers, pasta salads and soups, which provide a more interesting lunch option for kids than sandwiches.
"It is a life skill that I think gets overlooked," she says of cooking. "You shouldn't wait until you leave home to know how to cook."
GARDEN VEGETABLE TART
1 frozen puff pastry sheet (approx 14x10 inches) 2 tbsp Italian parsley, finely chopped 1 ear of fresh corn, kernels cut from the cob 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 medium zucchini (sliced lengthwise in quarter-inch thick pieces) 1 teaspoon salt ½ pint grape tomatoes Freshly ground pepper to taste ¼ cup feta cheese, crumbled 2 tablespoons basil, cut in thin strips 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 425 F. Place sheet of puff pastry on a parchment lined baking sheet. Prick pastry all over with a fork. Bake for 10 minutes until golden and puffy. Remove from oven, lightly press centre with a spatula, leaving a one-inch crust.
In a small bowl, add 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, minced garlic and chopped parsley. Add ½ tsp salt and pepper to taste. Mix to combine. Set aside. Place zucchini slices and grape tomatoes in a bowl.
Add ½ teaspoon salt and drizzle with olive oil to lightly coat; toss. Preheat barbecue, or indoor grill pan, over medium-high heat. Grill vegetables until tender, five to seven minutes, turning occasionally. Transfer to mediumsized bowl. Add corn kernels and half of the garlic-parsley mixture; stir to coat. Optional: once cooled a bit, cut the tomatoes in half.
Add the other half on the garlic-parsley mixture to the centre of the baked puff pastry. Use spoon to spread up to the edge of the crust, but do not cover crust with mixture. Evenly spoon corn, zucchini and tomato mixture onto puff pastry. Top with crumbled feta. Bake tart for 10 minutes. Transfer to wire rack to cool slightly. Add basil and serve.
