Preparing Kale That Kids Will Eat During an Episode of "Dora the Explorer"

There are several proud moments a parent remembers in the life of their child: when they take their first step, say their first word, read their first book. 

And the first time they willingly eat kale. 

I admit it says something about me that I remember this moment the clearest. I peeked into the family room to check on my 3-year-old. To my surprise, I found her with an empty container in her hand. I’d bought myself a box of gourmet kale chips, and all that was left were crumbs. All over her clothes, the couch, and even the carpet. 

I felt a mixture of disappointment and pride. I’d been looking forward to those kale chips. And they weren’t cheap.

But how can you be mad at a preschooler for eating kale? She was smiling. She loved them. I had to laugh. Maybe I was rocking this teaching-them-how-to-eat-healthy thing after all?

When my kids were very young, I had two primary dinner time rules:

1. Everyone in the family ate the same meal. There was never a “kids’ menu.” 

2. Every dinner had to be prepared during a single episode of “Dora the Explorer.”

Rule #1 came about because I never wanted to be a short-order cook, and I figured if they didn’t learn to eat a wide variety of food from the beginning, it would only get harder to expand their palate later on. (This proved true.) 

Rule #2 was simply a matter of necessity. Once I noticed it was about dinner time, I knew I had to work quickly to avoid rumbling tummies or a full-on MOM, I’M STARVING meltdown. Since Dora the Explorer was their favorite show and kept them safely occupied, I enlisted her help at dinnertime daily. 

Gracias, Dora!

This plan o’ mine worked well. Except on the nights when I started the show and had no idea what I was going to make, or discovered I was missing ingredients. 

Taking preschoolers to the grocery store at 5 p.m. to just “pick up a few things” is not an option. (Unless you’re a masochist.) In these cases, my only choice was to figure something out with the ingredients I had. 

On these rare nights, it felt like I’d stepped onto the set of “Chopped,” and the guest judges were 3 and 5 years old. 

It was on a night like this that I queued up “Dora” and found myself frantically staring into a half-empty fridge, without a map, or even a red boot-wearing monkey for moral support. 

Only the clock counting down from 22 minutes…

What I did have was a nice fresh bunch of leafy green kale. I bought it with the plan to make my own garlicky kale chips (cheaper!). But there was no time for that now. Those suckers take 12 hours in the dehydrator, and couldn’t exactly be considered dinner anyway.

I quickly put a pot of water on to boil. If a 3-year-old can willingly eat kale once, maybe she can eat it twice? And maybe her 5-year-old sister can too. Especially when you combine it with one of their favorite foods: noodles.

This recipe has been one of our favorites on busy weeknights for a decade now.

Blanching the kale takes away some of the bitterness, so it makes this a great way to introduce it to young eaters. At my house, everyone enjoys topping their noodles with whatever they choose (and we have on hand). "Dora" pre-show is optional, but highly recommended for those 6 and under!