Answer: Little kids don’t eat broccoli.

Children. Munchkins. Rug rats. Fritos’ corporate sponsors. The San Fransisco Chronicle’s Gate’s Tara Duggan carries an insight into the lives of mommies and daddies who, while cooking for picky and sugar-loving babes, are looking for good ways to keep their progeny healthy.

Here’s a family meal of pasta with broccoli and cheese (for the children) and tomato sauce and olives (for the adults), recipes below the fold:

THE WORKING COOK
When life gives you children, mealtimes can be a challenge

Before I became a mother, I used to look down on parents whose kids would eat only hot dogs or noodles with butter. I must have assumed my own children would be born with refined palates and would joyfully dive into plates of endive salad and osso buco I would present to them, putting their peers to shame.

I’ve heard rumors of — and even seen in action — these sort of young children who gladly eat almost anything their parents serve. But mine are not like that.

So I felt a surge of self-satisfaction while preparing a dish of pasta with broccoli and cheese (for the children) and tomato sauce and olives (for the adults). I knew I would have to pick out the pieces of olives and the more obvious tomato chunks for their plates, but thought that otherwise it would be a dish that would appeal to the whole family, one about which I could write triumphantly in this column.

Once again, I was wrong. The tomato sauce and the microscopic trace of olive juice left behind after my touch-ups made the food inedible to the kids. We washed off a couple of noodles and pieces of broccoli to give them so we could eat our dinner.

The second recipe, Creamy Mushroom Soup, doesn’t attempt to be kid-friendly — it’s for childless cooks or for parents who don’t mind occasionally preparing one dish for the grown-ups while microwaving some Veggie Dogs for the little ones.

Experts say you just have to keep introducing and reintroducing foods to kids, and eventually they will live off more than just air. I hope that’s true. In the meantime, I will continue to offer them new foods and work on never being smug about anything that has to do with children ever again.

FAST & FRESH: Dinner in 40 minutes
Creamy Mushroom Soup with Walnut Bread Croutons

Serves 4

This soup isn’t overly rich and is hearty enough for a main course, with a salad or a green vegetable. To cut the time, use a food processor to slice the mushrooms.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 ounce dried wild mushrooms
1/2 of a 1-pound loaf of walnut bread, such as from Acme Bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 tablespoon olive oil + more for croutons
Salt to taste
2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 1/2 pounds cremini mushrooms, or a mix of cremini and wild mushrooms, trimmed and thinly sliced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup low-sodium beef, chicken or vegetable broth, plus more as needed
2 cups milk
Pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350°.

Place the dried mushrooms in a small bowl. Pour 2 cups boiling water over the top and allow to soak.

Place the walnut bread in a medium bowl. Toss with a drizzle of olive oil and some salt, then spread out on a baking sheet. Bake until crisp and toasty, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and 2 tablespoons butter in a Dutch oven. Add the onion and saute on medium heat until wilted. Add the fresh mushrooms and some salt to taste and saute until the liquid is released, stirring constantly, about 3 minutes. Add the flour and stir until well distributed and slightly cooked, 1-2 minutes.

Squeeze the dried mushrooms to release all of their liquid, then pour the liquid into the soup with the broth and milk. Bring to a simmer, whisking constantly, then simmer for 10 minutes, whisking often. Meanwhile, roughly chop the dried mushrooms and add to the soup. If the soup gets too thick, add more broth.

Process with a handheld blender or food processor until pureed but still a little chunky. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve immediately with croutons.

Per serving: 410 calories, 20 g protein, 50 g carbohydrate, 14 g fat (6 g saturated), 25 mg cholesterol, 478 mg sodium, 6 g fiber.

FAST & FRESH: Dinner in 35 minutes
Broccoli Orecchiette with Tomatoes & Olives

Serves 4

This recipe was inspired by one my mother gave me that uses sun-dried tomatoes, which are great, too, though they need to be soaked and cut into thin strips. It helps to have a spider, a large mesh scoop, to scoop the broccoli out of the water. Save time by buying pitted olives, available in many olive bars or in jars.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 onion, diced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil + more to drizzle
3 garlic cloves, minced
14ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 bunch broccoli (about 10-12 ounces with stem on)
12 ounces orecchiette pasta (see Note)
1/3 to 1/2 cup pitted kalamata or other black olives, each cut into 3-4 rounds
Salt and hot red pepper flakes to taste
1/4 cup shaved or grated Parmesan cheese (see Note)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Instructions: Place a large pot of well-salted water over high heat, cover and bring to a boil.
Place the onion and olive oil in a saute pan and saute over medium-low until tender, 8-10 minutes.
Stir in the garlic, cooking until fragrant, about 1 minute, then add the tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, while you prepare the broccoli.

Remove the stems from the broccoli. Peel well or trim the fibrous skin off with a large knife, then chop the stems and florets into 1/2-inch pieces. Blanch in the boiling water for about 2 minutes, then remove with a spider. Remove and set aside 1/2 cup of the broccoli-cooking water. Return the water in the pot to a boil and immediately add the pasta. Cook according to package instructions.

Stir the broccoli into the pasta sauce along with the reserved 1/2 cup water. Continue to simmer the sauce over low heat. To maintain its color, stir the broccoli often and don’t cover.

When the pasta is done, drain, reserving another 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Stir the pasta into the sauce with the olives. If it needs more moisture, add the water and stir over low heat. Season to taste with salt and hot red pepper flakes, and drizzle with olive oil.

Serve immediately in shallow bowls. Top with the Parmesan.

Note: Orecchiette is a round, cup-shaped pasta. Fusilli or penne rigate pasta work well, too. Use a vegetable peeler to shave a chunk of Parmesan cheese into long, thin strips or shards.

Per serving: 530 calories, 18 g protein, 83 g carbohydrate, 14 g fat (3 g saturated), 5 mg cholesterol, 525 mg sodium, 7 g fiber.

Tara Duggan is a Chronicle staff writer and the author of “The Working Cook: Fast and Fresh Meals for Busy People” (San Francisco Chronicle Press, 2006, 176 pages). E-mail her at tduggan@sfchronicle.com.