Family Dinner Recipes

By Grace Parisi

F&W’s Grace Parisi shares homey recipes to please finicky eaters and omnivores alike.

Italian Wedding Soup

Speedy Baked Ziti

Arroz con Pollo

Baked Huevos Rancheros

Chicken Cacciatore

I am not one to indulge picky eaters. It’s probably a holdover from my childhood—the resounding “I’m not a short-order cook!” from my mother, nightly. We ate one dinner. I picked the peppers out of my frittata, stashed the tomatoes from my caprese in my napkin and snuck whatever I could to the dog. Now that I’m the family cook, my strategy is to prepare dishes everyone will be happy to eat. Sure, we have a lot of broccoli and green beans—since my kids happen to like them—and because one of my children can’t bear spicy foods, the rest of us make do with hot sauce on the side. But as my kids have grown up, so have their taste buds, which is a relief beyond words. The recipes here should satisfy everyone at your table. If they don’t, remember: Most kids know how to make PB&Js.