I won’t  mention the name of the restaurant because I don’t particularly like their food, but it’s best known by its white buildings. Neither Diane nor I will touch that particular brand of drive-through food (too greasy), but we both still love a good burger and I’ve adopted their concept.

Since I’m all about making healthy versions of the foods we love, I use turkey, salmon, chicken or wheat-meat (vegetarian) instead of beef to make sliders. And if you’re a food snob like I am, you already realize that there’s nothing better to satisfy your hunger than a great well-dressed burger.

For me, what makes great sliders are the seasonings, the rolls and the dressings.

Sliders are the perfect party food. Unlike full-sized sandwiches, they are very easy to handle because they are so small and can be held with one hand. They go with a variety of other finger foods and most important to me is that they are also an inexpensive way to serve a meal-in-one.

I prefer soft rolls, like potato bread with poppy or sesame seeds, and I use a variety of dressings (both bottled and homemade) and cheeses.  Here is a sample list of my favorite sliders:

• Ground turkey burger  sliders with Hollandaise sauce and alfalfa sprouts
• Salmon cake sliders with honey mustard and red onion
• Wheat-meat sliders with  brie cheese and diced hot peppers
• Barbecue chicken breast sliders with coleslaw

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He is hilarious and his sense of comedic timing, deadpan smirks and smooth Saint Louis swagger just cracks me up! Just looking at him. As soon as that lip starts twitching, you know it’s coming. He even jokes about his diet and the need to change his eating habits.

He loves great food but these days has to watch what he eats. “As I mature, broiled foods are better for me,” he told me.

Actually, they’re better for all of us. As we get older, some of the foods that we ate when we were younger - like anything fried along with too much starch or dairy - no longer appeals to our bodies. We should strive to avoid excess animal fat and replace it with leaner foods like  fish, broiled chicken and olive oil with lots of veggies, fruits and salad. Most important is good spring water and lots of it.

By the way, I’m cooking for Cedric and his crew when he brings his stand-up comedy routine to the Philadelphia Academy of Music this weekend.

I asked him what he likes. Broiled  salmon, he said, and he likes to crunch.

This menu is Mediterranean-based and heart-healthy:

• Broiled salmon with  teriyaki  glaze
• Mediterranean Couscous with sun-dried tomatoes, scallions, yellow raisins and cilantro
• Jasmine rice with parsley
• Spinach and arugula salad with cranberries,  shaved carrots, roasted walnuts and goat cheese,  tossed in a walnut/raspberry vinaigrette dressing
• Hot and teriyaki barbecued chicken wingettes
• Broccoli coleslaw with yellow raisins and Asian sesame dressing
• Deli platter with angel eggs, turkey breast, turkey pastrami, roast beef, and havarti, swiss and provolone cheeses
• Crudités with broccoli, red and yellow peppers, celery, carrots, asparagus, mushrooms and heirloom tomatoes with an assortment of  humus and pita breads

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When a child’s mind runs away with food, they come up with some incredible concoctions.

My 15-year-old daughter Rashidah is a fabulous eater, and it’s lucky for her that she’s tall and thin or she could run into trouble with her weight down the road. She loves blending different textures with fresh herbs, some of which grow on our windowsill, including oregano, rosemary and sage . Unlike my youngest daughter Yasmin, who hates all things from the sea but eats every kind of pasta, Rashidah loves  fresh salmon. When she was about 9, she came up with a recipe for  salmon that blends bread stuffing and fresh cilantro and has a teriyaki glaze. (See her recipe below.)

I  find that children are ready, willing and able to help cook from as young 3 years old.  As soon as they are old enough to sit at the table, we should engage them in meal preparation, whether it’s stirring the pancake batter or setting the table for dinner. They have wonderful imaginations when we allow them to explore.  They are much more likely to try new things when they’ve helped prepare the food.  It not only  teaches them how to pitch in, but also helps develop their confidence.

Over the years, I’ve taught my kids kitchen basics such as safety measures, how long certain foods should cook,  how to determine when food is done,  and which seasonings are best. Thank goodness they love to eat.

Plus in our house, who ever  makes the meal gets off from cleanup duty.

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Rashidah’s  stuffed salmon with teriyaki glaze

Note: this very simple recipe was created by my daughter Rashidah when she was nine years old. Its simple nutritious and goes well with rice, pasta or salad and tastes delicious cold the next day in a sandwich.

Pre-heat oven to 350 f

INGREDIENTS

• one 1  1/2 -2 lb piece of fresh salmon
• tbs  virgin olive oil
• No  stick spray vegetable coating
• cloves  of garlic finely chopped
• 1/2 cup of  prepared  stuffing  (from scratch is best but boxed will do)
• 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tbs  fresh chopped parsley
• sprigs of fresh parsley for garnish
• 1/4 tsp lemon pepper
• 1 dash of finely ground  sea salt
• 1/3 cup of thick prepared teriyaki sauce
• 1 tbs tamari sauce
• Juice from ½ of a lemon
• 3 tbsp spring water

DIRECTIONS

Have butcher cut a pocket in the middle of the salmon

• • Wash salmon and pat dry, place in baking  or roasting dish prepared with spray vegetable coating & large enough to lay the salmon out flat
  • Finely  chop  parsley and cilantro  and mix together with sea salt and lemon pepper and set aside
  • In a separate dish whisk together garlic, soy and lemon  juice and set aside
  • Prepare stuffing and mix with fresh herbs and seasonings and stuff into salmon, using the  remaining stuffing around the edges of the pan.
  • Brush on a thin glaze of teriyaki sauce and bake for 35 minutes
  • Whisk remaining teriyaki glaze with soy sauce, and brush half of it onto fish
  • Sprinkle water on bottom of pan around, but not on top of the fish
  • Cover with foil and continue baking for app. 10-15 more minutes, until fish flakes apart but  is still moist (some people prefer their salmon rare but we like ours well done)
  • Drizzle with remaining sauce and garnish with sprigs of parsley

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