Creamy chicken and tenderstem broccoli
Serves: 4
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 20 mins
Ingredients:
500g chicken breasts strips (or use 2 large chicken breasts, cut horizontally through the middle to make 4 thin pieces)
Salt & pepper, to taste
3 tbsp flour (plus 1 extra tbsp for later, optional)
3-4 tbsp oil (olive or vegetable)
1 bunch tenderstem broccoli, ends trimmed and sliced in half lengthways
½ red onion, finely sliced
Fresh thyme (about 3-4 sprigs), optional (or use 1 tsp dried Italian mixed herbs if you like)
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
500ml chicken stock
150g frozen peas
100ml single or double cream (double will thicken better, but use single if you prefer)
More:
Need a simple one-pot meal the family will love? Our creamy chicken and tenderstem broccoli is a great intro to green veggies for kids!
Method:
Season chicken strips with salt & pepper and toss in the flour until coated. Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat until shimmering, then cook the chicken for 5 mins or until browned and cooked through, stirring/flipping halfway through (should read 75C on a meat thermometer or be completely white when you cut through the centre). Set the chicken aside on a plate and wrap in foil to keep warm (or place in a warm oven set to 160C while you cook the veg).
Bring a pot of water to the boil and drop the broccoli in, boiling for just 2-3 mins until bright green and just starting to go tender but still retaining some bite. Heat a little extra oil in the frying pan and drop the par-cooked broccoli in (carefully! The water and oil may cause some spitting so keep the heat low-medium and watch your hands and arms). Add the onion and fry for 2-3 mins until onion is translucent and broccoli has softened a little more. Pop the broccoli onto the plate with the chicken while you make the sauce (you can leave the onion in the pan).
Stir in the mustard, an extra tablespoon of flour (if you prefer a thicker sauce) and thyme sprigs, if using, and pour in the chicken stock (slowly, constantly stirring, if you used extra flour). Bring to the boil and simmer for 2 mins, then stir in the cream and frozen peas and simmer for another 3-5 mins until the sauce has thickened and reduced a little, then return the chicken and veg to the pan for another minute or two until everything is steaming and ready to serve.
Serve with some crusty bread to mop up the sauce, or with some mashed or boiled potatoes and/or a green salad.
Engaging Kids
Kids who engage regularly with veg through veg-themed activities, such as arts and crafts, sensory experiences, growing and cooking are shown to be more likely to eat the veg they engage with. Encouraging kids to engage and play with veg is the handy first step to them developing a good relationship with veg and life-long healthy eating.
Kids in the kitchen
The eventual aim, if possible, is to get kids in the kitchen. Don’t worry, this doesn’t have to mean they are with you from start-to-end creating mess and rising stress levels! It can be as simple as giving them one small job (stirring, measuring, pouring, grating, chopping…) ideally involving veg. They can come in to do their little bit, and have fun with you for a few minutes. Getting them involved, making it playful and praising them plenty for their involvement, perhaps even serving it as dinner they “made”, makes it much more likely they will eat the food offered, not to mention teaching them important life skills. Find ideas, safety tips, videos and even a free chart in our Kids in the Kitchen section here.
Activities
While getting kids to interact with veggies for real and using their senses to explore them is best, encouraging hands off activities like arts & crafts, puzzles & games or at-home science experiments can be a great start, particularly for those who are fussier eaters or struggle with anything too sensory. Use these veg-themed activities as a stepping stone to interacting with the veg themselves. We have loads of crafty downloads here, puzzles here, and quirky science with veg here.
Sensory
Once you feel your child is ready to engage a little more, you can show them how to explore the veg you have on hand with their senses, coming up with playful silly descriptions of how a veg smells, feels, looks, sounds and perhaps even tastes. Find ideas, videos and some simple sensory education session ideas to get you started here.
Serving
The moments before food is offered can be a perfect opportunity for engagement that can help make it more likely a child will eat it! Giving children a sense of ownership in the meal can make a big difference to their feelings going into it and the pride they take in it. You know your child best, but if you aren’t sure where to start, we have some fun and simple ideas for easy roles you can give them in the serving process over here.
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