By Adam Michael Segal

Ever wonder how to really get your kids to enjoy healthy foods?

It’s a question that has eaten away at parents for ages and there isn’t one simple answer that will work every time.

But recently, I stumbled onto something that was a hit and I’m happy to share the recipe with you. I call it ‘cooking with the kiddies.’

The idea came to me after reading an article in Today’s Parent magazine which suggested kids may be more apt to eat right if they have an active hand in making the meal.

So I decided to test this theory out with my two-year-old daughter, Jaydin.

The first step was finding something tasty that was quick to prepare. Then, it would need to be fun to make. And finally, we wanted a well-rounded snack, dish or meal loaded with nutrients and vitamins.

Rather than search through heaps of cooking books, we sought tips from our family. Being from Israel, they naturally recommended a staple of yummy Middle Eastern cuisine – taboulleh.

In case you haven’t heard of it, taboulleh is a fabulous fresh veggie salad.

Armed with a knife, manual juicer and food processer, the preparation went a little something like this. We took parsley, tomatoes and onions and finely chopped them with the help of a food processor.

Next, we soaked bulgur wheat in water and squished every last drop of juice out of a lemon with a manual juicer. After mixing these veggies together, we sprinkled salt, pepper and extra virgin olive oil and voila, the taboulleh tasted terrific.

Sure, it wasn’t exactly a clean job. As you see from the video, my little princess shared half the parsley with the kitchen table. But the dish was delightful and it took 30 minutes from start to finish.

So the next time you are scratching your head trying to figure out how to get your kids to munch on something that’s good for them, let them be a part of making it.

Here’s the recipe we used:

2 bunches of fresh parsley (cut off the stems)

3 tomatoes

I onion

1 tablespoon of salt and pepper

1/2 cup of bulgur

3-6 table spoons of lemon juice

3-6 tablespoons of olive oil

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