Okay, you definitely can’t have it all, or at least not all at once. That is well documented at this point. But you can make feeding your family a little less painful if you can find ways to trade off meal planning responsibilities with a partner, and get kids involved. 

If your kids are a little older, perhaps they can even own a night on the meal prep calendar. And if they are small, getting kids involved with cooking could potentially make them more likely to eat what you put on the table. I personally do not have a child that this strategy works on (over-the-moon happy to be a chef; perennially resistant to trying anything that doesn’t sit inside of his pre-approved groups of foods and food formats that are acceptable), but there are a handful of smaller scale studies that suggest kids between 5 and 7 years of age are more likely to eat new and unfamiliar foods if they were involved in the prep.

The point being: It’s hard to be successful when this entire responsibility sits on one person. Find ways to shop together, prep together, and eat together, because family dinners are one of the most high-impact ways to connect across the entire family. According to Anne Fishel, the executive director of the Family Dinner Project, 80% of teens say family dinner is the part of the day when they're most likely to talk to their parents. That’s extremely powerful. 

And of course, all of this only works when you have a plan in place for what you’re going to eat on any given week—and the stuff you are making is reliably nutritious, easy to make, and enjoyable to eat. Which is actually a surprisingly complex goal. So, to make the recipe-finding a bit easier, ahead are six family-friendly dishes that we have tried and loved, and full-throatedly recommend to you and your family. 

Spinach Chia Pudding

Chia pudding is a tried and true staple in our home, and the following recipe (adapted from goop) is quick and easy to make and prep ahead for a week—and fun to get tiny hands involved in, because there is very little anyone could do to mess this up. 

Blend together: 

• 3 cups of almond milk
• 1 cup of lite coconut milk 
• 1 5 oz clamshell of baby spinach
• 3 pitted medjool dates (pre-soaked in hot water, if you can) 
• 2 tablespoons hemp hearts 
• 1 teaspoon cardamom 

Pour that mixture over:

• 1 cup of chia seeds, whole 
• 1 pinch of salt

Mix it all together, let it soak overnight in an airtight container in the fridge, and serve in the morning with whatever toppings you prefer. I like:

• Slivered almonds
• Toasted pepitas 
• Cacao nibs 
• Diced fruit (anything but melon, citrus, or grapes—but that is just personal preference!) 

This is a crowd pleaser across the board. The chia and hemp hearts bring protein and fiber to start your day, the coconut milk adds a little fat to keep you full, and the spinach brings a slew of micronutrients to the table, including: carotenoids, vitamin C, vitamin K, folic acid, iron, and calcium. Plus, the dates add a little fiber and prove to be a healthier alternative to many other sweeteners. 

Black Bean Chili

This vegetarian chili recipe from Love & Lemons is quick, flavorful, and very freezer-friendly, so you can make a large batch ahead of time and have dinner on the table in a heartbeat, when you just don’t have the time. I throw in extra tomatoes and diced zucchini—and when I heat up the oil to sauté the onions at the beginning, I put ½ tablespoon of whole cumin seeds and 1 teaspoon of powdered coriander in the oil first, letting it crackle and jump a little before adding the other ingredients. 

Full recipe here

Quinoa Salad 

Boil vegetable stock instead of water, add a cup of quinoa, and cook according to the instructions on the package. Add that quinoa to an entire clamshell of well-chopped spinach (a mix of kale and/or arugula would work too). I add the quinoa right after I drain it, while it’s still warm, and it wilts the greens in a really nice way. Then add anything else your heart desires, in this hodgepodge kitchen-sink salad. My go-to additions. 

• Marinated artichoke hearts (in a jar)
• Blueberries (or chopped strawberries) 
• Cilantro, mint, basil, and whatever other herbs you love best, all finely chopped
• Carrots and celery, finely chopped 
• Canned chickpeas or cannellini beans 

And this Serious Eats vinaigrette is a great dressing to drizzle lightly on top. I top it all off with a generous portion of toasted slivered almonds, and eat with a spoon. 

Hoisin Garlic Noodles 

This 5-star New York Times Cooking recipe is well loved in our home. My kid won’t eat mac n’ cheese, but he will eat these noodles and Kenji Lopez-Alt’s Vietnamese-American garlic noodles. As some of the commenters suggest, I would encourage you to leave out the maple syrup or honey because the hoisin makes the recipe sweet enough. Use a press for the garlic chopping (this is a kid-favorite task in our home) and add a meat or tofu of your choosing to make this into a full, filling meal. It takes almost no prep time (especially if you use pre-peeled garlic from the grocery store). And only a few minutes of cooking time, the first part of which you can parallel path with the sauce prep. And they keep for a few days in the fridge, so make more than you need and enjoy leftovers! 

Full recipe here

Shaved Fennel & Crushed Olive Salad

This Smitten Kitchen recipe is a wonderful side to add veggies and a little zing to any meal. It’s beloved in our family, and with every dinner guest I’ve ever served it to. It’s surprising, addictively good, easy to make, and conveniently uses every single part of two bulbs of fennel. Buy olives pitted from the store to save time, but otherwise, make this one exactly as written, and enjoy with whatever light-touch protein you like to serve on the regular. 

Full recipe here