Spring Onions
Did you know you can regrow your store bought spring onions in just a jar of water? Simply cut off the white ends of the spring onions about an inch long leaving the roots attached. Place these in a jar submerging just above the roots in water and let this sit by the window sill, changing the water every few days. Watch out for your new free spring onions!
Nutrition
They are a great source of vitamin K to meet your Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) supporting blood clotting and an essential role in bone health.
Shopping Guide
Try and go for vibrant green leaves avoiding those that are slimy or wilting but don’t overlook any in the reduced section of your supermarket. Often found here the bulbs can be saved and cut off to regrow your new ones at home.
Storage
To store, they’ll keep on the counter for a couple of days, but up to 2 weeks if sealed in an airtight bag or container in the fridge.
Serving Suggestions
Spring onions are usually added to salads or as a finishing flavour to top some Mexican or Asian recipes, but their lovely mild taste makes a great addition to lots of dishes.
Seasonality
Buying veg in season is not only great for the planet, it can be good for your wallet, too! Seasonal veg are often cheaper and frequently taste better, so can be a better time to try with a child as the often sweeter, riper taste is more enjoyable.
At Its Best:
January - December
Engage
Here are some of our favourite ways to engage kids with spring onions:
Arts & Crafts
Start simple with some non-food based engagement. This is especially helpful for a fussier child or those with sensitivities around food.
For spring onions, why not try making mixed media piece of art depicting a spring onion? Take a look at a spring onion, or a bunch, and grab some different types of art supplies you have on hand to create your spring onion art. Perhaps find some green and white pages in a magazine to tear up for a collage and use a pen or pencil to outline and add details. Maybe try watercolours and black fineline pen for the colours and details. Or grab some colouring pencils and pens to create layers or shadow and colour changes.
Science
Science allows for curiosity, play and hands-on experiments. It helps kids to become fascinated with veg – how it looks, reacts, smells, cooks and more. Finding fun and simple experiments to allow kids to play with their veg makes them curious about it and helps them approach it in a positive way.
Why not try your hand at re-growing your spring onions? Cut a few spring onions so you have the white root and about an inch of the onion. Place in a jar or glass of water, with just enough water to cover above the roots. Check regularly over a few days, changing out the water once a day, and watch as new spring onions grow! Why not try keeping a video or written journal of the process?
Sensory
Sensory exploration can be a wonderful introduction to physically interacting with veg. Turn it into a positive, pressure-free experience by starting off with the golden rules of “You don’t need to try and you don’t need to like.” Reassuring a child that, while they have a chance to taste a veg, they don’t have to, and are not expected to like it if they do, can make them more happy to engage with it.
Try describing what you see and feel when you look at a spring onion closely. What does it look like? What does it remind you of? Does it look like something else when you look at a bunch together? What do the roots feel like? What about the tops and sides? Does it feel different? Use your imaginations to come up with fun ways of describing and comparing.
Kids in the Kitchen
Children who help to prep and cook veg are more likely to eat it. If you feel your child is ready to help and could benefit from it, keep the stress and mess to a minimum by choosing one simple task for them to do as part of the prep, meaning they can be involved and feel like the recipe is in part ‘theirs’, but also not make the process too much longer or more complicated.
For a younger child, why not get them to wash the spring onions and peel the outer layer off? Perhaps you could show them how to carefully chop the roots off, then let them tear the top half an inch of the greens off. If you’ve chopped them to sprinkle over a stir fry or salad at the end of cooking time, let them do this bit!
For an older child, it could be a great opportunity to teach some essential knife skills. Help them to use the claw grip to slice the spring onions. Perhaps they want to try making a guacamole themselves by mashing ripe avocado and squeezing lime juice into a bowl with some torn fresh coriander and sliced spring onions. Perfect for snacktime or to top tacos for supper.
DOWNLOADS:
Use our Kitchen Ninja chart and videos to find simple ways for kids to help in the kitchen.
Your Food
Find your go-to meals in our family favourites section and see what veggies work best with them.
Find out how to add more veg to your suppers here.
Recipes
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!
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!
The first thing to do is remove the pressure. If the veg doesn’t get eaten, it’s not the end of the world. There will be other days, other dinners, other chances. Fun is key here – try not to worry about mess, perfect table manners, or playing with food. Instead, focus on making the process of getting the food to the plates, readying the table, and the actual eating relaxed.
The best principles for success here are the Three Rs (role modelling, rewarding, re-offering) which you can read about here.
But there is one more way you can serve for success, and that is giving your child a role. You don’t have to do this every time, just encourage them in their strengths through it when you can.
Here are some of our favourite ideas:
Design a menu
Come up with a silly name or story for a dish
Help with making a meal plan and choosing veg for dinners or snacks
Help to serve up the meal on dishes, lay the table or create a centrepiece to be involved in the physical ‘serving up’ process
The Wonderful World of Veg
Check out our vegepedia. When to buy in-season. How to store them to keep for longer. How to engage children with each veg, and simple ideas of how to prepare and cook them for maximum taste and minimum waste. Select a veg…