Little hands cook up healthy food

The trend of healthy eating has never been as noticeable as it has been now. Surprisingly though it has caught up with the young ones growing up in nuclear families where both parents go out for work and have little time to think about options in cooking healthy.Left at home for a considerable time to fend for themselves, the youngsters are now turning towards eating healthy by cooking up snacks that are easy to make and less time consuming. Apart from satisfying their own craze for filling up the stomach, they also go a step further to serve their parents healthy delicacies.Aditya Mishra of class VII lives with his younger sister and father. He beats the summer blues with his fruit salad with his favourite ingredient mango. “I love mango and with it I toss some watermelon, a few grapes, apple and sprinkle some black salt to add taste. This is the best healthy snack that I can think of when I am very hungry,” said Aditya. Aditya is also a pro at making Maggi  and other noodles of varied taste, be it plain salty or even a sweeter variation. “I can also cook rice without anyone’s help,” he yelps with joy and a sense of unparalleled pride.There are many more Adityas who can cook and are now a part of the ever rising junior chef category. “Eating healthy is easy. The children can make simple recipes that will not need the use of fire nor any cutting,” explained Institute of Hotel Management, Bhubaneswar academic coordinator Arya Kumari Panigrahi, adding, “Children these days do no have much appetitie for such healthy eating, but dishes like the moong dal salad is not only filling but also good for health,” said Arya.It is not long back that Tarla Dalal brought teenagers to her show who were adept at showing their culinary skills with ease. And at these times, when everyone is perpetually pressed for time, it is very important to develop healthy eating habits and encourage the same habit among children. Given proper knowledge about healthy food habits and training to handle basic ingredients coupled with own creative acumen to suit the taste bud, even children can come up with novel combinations in food items on their own and surprise parents too!