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Green Sandwiches (Cucumber, Pesto & Avocado)

Claire Wright

Effort:
Complexity:
Cost:

Serves: 4

Prep time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

For the 30-second pesto:

1 large bunch fresh basil (or 2 smaller packs)

2 tbsp ground almonds (or 2 tbsp whole cashews, almonds or pine nuts)

1 small garlic clove, sliced as finely as possible or minced

125ml olive oil or extra virgin olive oil

pinch of sea salt or 2 tbsp fresh grated Parmesan

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

For the sandwich:

4 tbsp of the homemade pesto (or use shop-bought)

cream cheese

1 cucumber, sliced

1 avocado, sliced

handful of salad leaves, optional

8 slices of wholegrain bread

Veg Portions / Serving: 1

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Recipe created for Veg Power by Claire Wright. Food photography by Claire Wright | raisingsugarfreekids.com

Claire Wright from addsomeveg.com shares 3 simple ways to prepare cucumber that the whole family will enjoy.

These sandwiches look so pretty and taste so delicious, as well as being fun to make, that kids will love taking pride in putting it together and eating it, too!

Method:

To make the pesto, place all of the ingredients except the olive oil in a blender and blitz to a paste, then add the olive oil bit by bit and keep blitzing, until everything has come together to form a pesto.

For the sandwiches, layer a slice of bread with cream cheese, 1 tbsp pesto, cucumber slices, avocado slices and salad leaves (if using). Top with another slice of bread, then repeat with the remaining ingredients. Serve with any extra cucumber slices and salad leaves.

Want to take it a step further? Get the kids to come up with fun new green foods to add: sliced pitted green olives, fresh herbs, spinach leaves, green peppers, sprouts, roasted broccoli, etc.

Engaging Kids

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

Kids in the kitchen

Have the kids make the pesto by adding all of the ingredients to the blender and pushing the buttons to blitz. Give them a kid’s knife or butter knife and show them how to spread the cream cheese and pesto on the bread, then let them layer the other ingredients and bread.

Activities

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

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

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.

Claire Wright

Communications Manager: After leaving Exeter University with a degree in English Literature, Claire worked in various fields ranging from youth work and charities to publishing, before starting up a food-focused website when her first child was born. After being asked to project manage the publication of Veg Power's Crowdfunder book, Claire came on board as a fully-fledged team member in 2018 to take on the role of Communications Manager, looking after Veg Power's website and social media platforms.

addsomeveg.com/

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