If you remember your childhood eating habits, you probably recall pushing away your plate when it contained foods that you now enjoy. Spinach, broccoli and Brussels sprouts may have topped your list of the vilest foods, and you wouldn't be alone in your dislike; few kids gravitate to the bitter flavors in these foods. Masking these strong flavors and encouraging a sense of adventure helps picky eaters overcome their reticence to "icky" foods.
Familiarity
Foods become decidedly less off-putting to children when they get to be a part of the cooking process. Colorful fruits and vegetables have an intrinsic visual appeal, so point out bins of attractive produce and talk about how to choose the best tasting fruit or vegetable in the display. Ask the child to help you pick out the meal's ingredients. When you get the groceries home, give the child an age-appropriate task, for example, washing for younger children or peeling and paring for older kids, so the new item becomes more familiar. When children then encounter those beets or broccoli on the plate at dinner, they can take pride in having helped prepare them.
Additions
Your child probably has a mental list of desirable foods, so figuring out ways to add more nutrition to those foods bolsters the nutritional value of a picky eater's meal. Top a favorite sandwich with lettuce or baby spinach leaves. Add blueberries to pancakes and waffles. Mix pureed spinach or grated carrots into sauces, gravies and ground meat entrees like meat loaf. Add cauliflower to mashed potatoes to lower the calorie and carbohydrate content of the dish. Taste your creations frequently and stay true to the original dish; if you alter the flavor profile of a favorite food, your child will feel cheated. Meet your child halfway and supply mild-tasting fruits and vegetables as additions to familiar foods.
Substitutions
Substituting nutritionally dense foods for items that offer little more than calories improves a fussy eater's meal quality. Switching some of the ground beef for ground turkey in a highly flavored dish lowers the meal's fat content while still tasting and feeling familiar to your child. Most children get accustomed to brown rice and whole wheat bread in favor of white rice and white bread because the latter two are already familiar to the. Keep your substitutions within reason; while most kids will accept brown rice in place of white rice, they may not be so obliging if you replace that rice with diced parsnips.
Food Chaining
Food chaining is a set of techniques that builds a more varied diet starting with the already familiar foods that a picky eater consumes. Introduce new foods that are similar to ones your children will eat so that they become familiar to them also. Doing this develops a new link in the "food chain." If you want to try food chaining, start with a list of your child's favorite foods and design meals around them. For example, if the only meat your child eats are processed breaded chicken pieces, make homemade nuggets that resemble fast-food or frozen versions. Progress from homemade nuggets to breading-free pieces, and then to different cooking techniques. When chicken in all its guises becomes acceptable, move on to turkey. Because food chaining builds on the preferences your child already has, it typically results in less friction at the dinner table.
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