"Gramps, can you make us a fancy dinner?" my 6-year-old granddaughter asks on New Year's Eve. Removing her coat, heavy boots and gloves she smiles, "I love your fancy dinners." Finding it impossible to say no I ask, "How fancy do you want it?" She laughs, "Really fancy!"

Creating fancy dinners has become a tradition when my grandkids visit. The meal usually includes a salad in the center of the plate tossed with dried cranberries and almonds, topped with blue cheese dressing and a savory item surrounding the lettuce. Grilled chicken breast, quesadillas or mini burgers (also known as crabby patties) satisfies the girl's hunger and tempt their eyes.

Creatively preparing delicious food for a 5 and 6-year-old becomes a challenge. What might a child eat that prompts them to eat adventurously while feeling safe to try new foods?

Kids are picky eaters for biological and psychological reasons. Imagine a child, one thousand years ago growing up in the Northwest. As with most children, this child examines his world by looking at, feeling then tasting new items he comes in contact with. First, he picks up a rock, looks at it and puts it in his mouth. Realizing the rock is too hard to chew; he either spits it out or swallows. The child is learning that rocks are too hard to chew and should not be eaten. In the future, through investigation the child learns what rocks are for and how rocks fit into his life.

Now imagine that same child sees a beautiful larkspur flower and places the poisonous plant into his mouth. He chews twice and spits the bitter flower out because the child is psychologically wired to dislike bitter and sour foods. The child is alive because of his hypersensitive taste buds. This boy is learning that purple flowers are yucky and will avoid eating purple flowers in the future. Taste offers a basic survival function.

If humans are biologically wired to dislike sour and bitter tastes, why are lemon and arugula so culinarily pleasing? The secret lies in adaptation, our psychology and a change in biology as we age.

Biology

Our biological make-up creates humans who crave food which further our survival. When one requires energy, one craves sweets. When one lacks the sodium essential to our physiological processes, we crave salt. When one puts something sour into her mouth she puckers, warning of something potentially toxic, and when one tastes something bitter, one often finds it distasteful and wishes to expel it from her mouth. The sixth taste, umami, is protein which works to aid in growth and tissue repair. Humans crave umami as we grow and use it to heal physical and emotional scars.

Adaptation

Kids have more taste buds than adults and therefore taste more acutely - sour food is more sour, bitter food more bitter. For this reason, kids are fussy about the food they taste. Slowly introducing bitter and sour food to a child's diet teaches the child to accept flavors which once repulsed them.

A child who eats only macaroni and cheese and cereal will possibly struggle throughout her life to find pleasure in flavorful food. As a child ages, her taste buds decrease making food less flavorful therefore, more appealing - bitter food is not as bitter, sour food not as sour. The fussiest years for adventurous eating are 2 to 6 years old. Once a child matures past 6, they are less biologically tuned to eating bland food and are now learning to appreciate new flavorful foods. This is the optimal time for spicy, bitter, sour and salty food exploration and adaptation.

Psychology

Children can be talked into liking certain food. In an experiment on the brain's role in taste aversion, a person is told before eating a food that it will be greatly unpleasant. Overwhelmingly the receiver generally reports the food as greatly unpleasant and intolerable. When given that same food but told it is only mildly unpleasant, the same participant will report the food as acceptable but undesirable. As with most senses, our brain influences our physiological response.

In another experiment, being told a bottle of wine costs $90 rather than its real $10 price makes an inexpensive bottle of wine taste better and triggers more activity in a brain area that responds to pleasurable experiences. Again, expectation influences our brain's response.

The same holds true for children. Convincing a child the food they are about to eat is delicious and highly desirable, increases the child's wiliness to eat the food. That being said, poorly prepared, too salty, bitter or sour food will always be difficult for a child to consume.

Understanding the biology, psychology and adaptation of a child's sense of taste allows us to prepare food a child will actually eat. To create a fancy meal for my grandkids, I must remember:

• The food must not be too salty, bitter or sour but, to introduce adventurous eating to my grandkids I should introduce small amounts of big flavor into my food.

• The food should look pretty, smell great and be presented in a creative way.

• I should have my grandchildren help me prepare the food and talk about how great it is as we cook. Also, the children should taste as we cook and be part of the process so they have ownership in the meal.

• The food should be eaten at the dining table, on nice china, with the family. The food, just as the $90 bottle of wine, should be fancy and have a perceived high value.

The Fancy Dinner

Marinated Grilled Chicken Breast Topped with Tomatoes, Avocados and Cheese

1T Soy sauce

1T Stone ground mustard

4T Lighthouse chunky blue cheese dressing

2 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 Diced Tomato

1/2 Diced Avocado

1 C Shredded cheddar cheese

Marinade chicken for 1/2 hour in soy sauce, mustard and blue cheese dressing. Grill (I love grilling outside during the winter) over medium heat until done. Slice chicken but retain the shape of the breast. Put the chicken (still in the shape of the breast) in a saute pan over medium-high heat and top with avocado, tomato then cheese. Pour 2 tablespoons of tap water into the pan, cover with a lid and steam for one minute to melt the cheese. Serve.

You can adjust the vegetables to your taste. Topping the chicken with steamed broccoli, fresh peas (NOT CANNED) or zucchini adds a vegetable to your child's diet which they might not try otherwise. If chicken breasts are not your thing, try this same menu replacing the chicken with pork chops, lamb chops or venison chops. Yum, Yum.

Bill Rutherford is a psychotherapist, public speaker, elementary school counselor, adjunct college psychology instructor and executive chef, and owner of Rutherford Education Group. Please email him at [email protected].