Bettina Campolucci Bordi
Serves: 2
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 1 hour 45 mins
Ingredients:
1 small butternut squash
1 leek, green and all, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 medjool dates, torn into pieces
1 tablespoon turmeric
1 teaspoon fenugreek seed
100 g (3½ oz/½ cup) red lentils
260 ml (8½ fl oz/1 cup) boiling water
400 ml (13 fl oz/generous 1½ cups) coconut milk
1 large handful of fresh spinach
Olive oil, for cooking
Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
For the crispy chickpeas:
240 g (8½ oz/1 cup) drained tinned chickpeas (garbanzos)
1 tablespoon tandoori spice mix
1 tablespoon olive oil
To serve:
Plant yogurt
Sourdough bread, toasted
Comforting and hearty with added crunch, this is perfect for large batch cooking and to take away for lunch on a drizzly day. One of my favourites.
Method:
Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F/Gas 6) and line 2 baking pans with baking parchment.
Halve the butternut squash lengthways, scoop out the seeds and drizzle with oil and sprinkle of salt. Place face down on one of the trays and roast until softened, about 45 mins. Allow to cool slightly before scooping out the filling and discarding the skin.
Lower oven to 180°C (350°F/Gas 4). To cook the crispy chickpeas (garbanzos), put the drained chickpeas in a bowl with the spice mix and olive oil and mix so they are well coated. Scatter them in the prepared pan and pop in the oven for about 20 mins until golden and crunchy.
Meanwhile, heat a little olive oil in a large frying pan (skillet) and fry the leek, garlic, dates and spices for a good 5-10 mins until soft. Add the lentils and boiling water and simmer for about 15 mins until the water has been absorbed. Add the coconut milk and roasted squash and season with salt and pepper to taste, then simmer for another 10 mins until the lentils have a lovely creamy texture. Once it’s ready, ladle in a handful of spinach and top with crispy chickpeas, a dollop of plant yogurt and toasted sourdough for scooping.
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.
Bettina Campolucci Bordi
Bettina is a self-taught chef and passionate advocate for plant-based and free-from cooking. She develops recipes for brands, hospitality, and cookbooks, including Happy Food, 7 Day Vegan Challenge, and Celebrate. Bettina also runs a Retreat Chef Academy, teaching sustainability, waste-free cooking, and seasonal, feel-good food principles.
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