Michael Smith’s Family Meals Review and Barley Kale Tabbouleh Recipe

“It’s never optional.”  Cooking, that is, and so Michael Smith begins his latest book, Family Meals (available now locally and on Amazon and Amazon.ca ).

I completely agree with him.  Feeding my family is one of my main responsibilities as a parent and the food that I give them should always be the best possible.

How do we give our families the best possible food?  By making it ourselves, from scratch, using wholesome, nourishing seasonal ingredients.

And how do we help our children learn how to enjoy cooking and eating good, real food?  By making it and eating it together!  Smith points out that “It’s the whole point of cooking, to come together as a family and share.”

Family Meals* is a beautiful celebration of family cooking, with wonderful photography and a wide diversity of snacks, meals, make-aheads, tips, and tricks.  The recipes are straight-forward and easy to follow.  They use ingredients that are typically found in a well-stocked pantry or fridge.  There is no use of processed foods, unless you count the “Just-Add-Water Noodle Jar” which uses instant ramen noodles but tosses the mysterious flavor packet, replacing it with a ton of real food!

Although it’s the recipes that make up the bulk of the book, what sets it apart from other cookbooks is the focus on family inclusion and tips for parents who want to set a standard for real food in their homes.  One of my favorite tips came from the “Easy Snacks” section: Make a snack shelf in your fridge where your kids can look when they’re hungry and find the “Snack of the Day.”  Fill this spot with healthy munchibles like carrot sticks and other fresh fruits and veggies.  It’s a great idea and my family should incorporate it soon since our young assistant can now open the fridge!

Another great tip is this: “Go beyond the farmers’ market and meet a farmer.  Support local so your kids can meet and get to know real people making real food.”  This is one reason why we’ve joined a CSA this year, and we couldn’t be happier!  Our young assistants go to the pickup with us and see our farmer and her team and all the wonderful food set out for all of us CSA members.  There is a clear presentation for our kids that food is not made at the store, but grown by real people!

Right, youngest assistant?  Real food is grown by real people!

After reading through the tips and cooking tricks I spent a quiet evening (Madame and the boys were gone) reading through most of the cookbook. I ended up writing down 22 recipes I wanted to try.  You know, it’s just a starting place….  I narrowed that down to one that I would share here on the blog.  The recipe is Barley Kale Tabbouleh and it stood out to me mainly because of its use of two ingredients that are very local, barley and kale!

I actually made the recipe twice, one time following it to the letter and another time with some substitutions and tweaks.  Both turned out great but I preferred the original recipe to my version which substituted cracked wheat berries for the barley.  It turns out that the wheat berries became too gelatinous, causing the whole salad to be overly creamy.  So I am glad to report that the original recipe is tested and turns out very well according to its instructions!

Enjoy this salad as a side to a good summer barbecue or as a simple yet filling lunch by itself.  Feel free to play around with the ingredients and ratios but start with the original first, it’s awesome!