Cooking with your children is a great activity to start at a young age; not only will it teach your little ones about food and allow you to encourage them to eat healthy, it is also a perfect way to spend quality time with them.
Making a healthy, nutritious salad with your little one is a perfect way to start, as there’s usually no need for using the stove and they’re a great way to pack in their five a day. With so many delicious salad recipes to choose from you can adapt any recipe to suit your child’s taste. Go for colorful, vibrant ingredients, and be sure to teach them the importance of washing their hands before and after food preparation.
When looking for salad recipes to try, look for ones that have fruit in the ingredients, as these are especially suitable for kids as they love sweet flavors. To start with, try this delightful and healthy snack that is easy to prepare and tastes great:
Watermelon Salad
– 1 cup seeded and diced watermelon
– 1 seeded and diced yellow pepper
– 1 seeded and diced red pepper
– ½ a cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
– 2 ripe tomatoes, each cut into quarters
– Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, squeeze of lemon juice and black pepper (to serve)
Simply mix all the salad ingredients together and dress with oil, lemon juice and black pepper to taste. Depending on the age of your child, you can either cut up the ingredients yourself or supervise while they do it. Either way, they’ll love getting their hands in to toss and mix the ingredients together.
You can also get your child involved in creating their own original salad recipes, as this will encourage them to try new flavors and ingredients. You can even grow your own ingredients together, and encourage them to think more about where our food comes from. Cut-and-come-again salad leaves, tomatoes, spring onions and radishes are all easy and fun salad vegetables that will encourage your children to get green-fingered.
Leave a Reply