Kid-Friendly

As an alternative to crispy fried food, F&W's Kay Chun coats pork chops in unsweetened shredded wheat cereal and lots of seasonings, then bakes.

Ground turkey, panko (Japanese bread crumbs), Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and a few other ingredients make delicious, kid-friendly meatballs. To spice them up for grown-ups, Katie Workman adds hot turkey sausage and crushed red pepper into the basic meatball mixture.

Doctoring good-quality jarred tomato sauce, like Rao's, with ground meat, onion, garlic and spices makes this ziti superfast.

The silky carrot puree mixed with the cheddar here is a terrific source of vitamin A and helps reduce the amount of fat in the recipe.

Pair with a vibrant New Zealand Pinot Noir.

Country ham—rubbed with salt and sugar, smoked for weeks, then hung to cure for at least six months—is quintessentially Southern. Because it's so salty, it's ideal as an accent in dishes like this homey pasta.

The extra-large meatballs here add an element of surprise.

Chef Bryan Vietmeier of Seattle's Take 5 Urban Market merges two Italian-American favorites here: chicken parm and pepperoni.

Grilling is a fat-free way to cook omega 3-rich shrimp. "And kids love rolling food in rice paper," says Emeril Lagasse.

This extra-light Alfredo sauce for pasta gets its silkiness from fresh ricotta and grated pecorino cheese.

Although nearly all of the ingredients used at LuLu Petite come from California, executive chef John Hennigan says the idea for this chicken sandwich came from a small deli in New York City called Lenny's. Hennigan substitutes a creamy truffled artichoke tapenade for the mayonnaise used in the Lenny's version.

This hearty pasta dish is studded with chunks of Italian sausage and mixed with a quick garlic-infused tomato sauce. It's then topped with dollops of fresh ricotta and a sprinkling of both mozzarella and Parmigiano-Reggiano, which form a cheesy layer as the pasta bakes.

Michael Schlow uses potato flakes from a box in place of bread crumbs to form a supercrispy crust for cod fillets. Grace Parisi offers a shortcut: She dredges cod strips in flour and potato flakes to create crunchy fish sticks, which she serves with a chunky sun-dried-tomato tartar sauce.

Traditional huevos rancheros are fried eggs served over tortillas and smothered in sauce and cheese. Here, Grace Parisi bakes eggs, tortilla chips and cheese in a seasoned tomato sauce in individual gratin dishes. For more sophisticated eaters, swap pepper Jack for the Monterey Jack to get a spicy kick.

A Mexican classic with a Greek twist, these tostadas appeal to children of all ages. Serve one burrito-style tortilla or two of the smaller ones per person.

To accompany his fresh tuna tacos, chef Aarón Sanchez of New York City's Paladar makes a quick, vinegary, supercrunchy red-onion pickle. It's lovely with the warm, soft tortillas. To bump up the flavors of the tacos even more, he also adds a dash of hot sauce and a healthy squirt of fresh lime juice.