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Chintal’s Lentil Bolognese & Spaghetti

Dr Chintal Patel

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Serves: 3

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

400g tin green/red lentils

400g tin chopped tomatoes

1 small onion

2 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon oil

250g wholewheat spaghetti (1/2 a packet)

Salt & pepper, to taste

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This can be whipped up in less than 30 minutes. Lentils are a great form of protein loaded with fibre and nutrients. They are cheap and easy to cook. I’ve used tinned lentils here to make the recipe quick and easy but if you have more time, dried lentils are even cheaper. They just require soaking and a longer cooking time. Try to use wholewheat ‘brown’ whic contains more fibre, helping keep you fuller for longer.

Method:

Chop the onion and garlic finely.
 
Heat the oil in a saucepan and add the chopped onion, stir well, when the onion softens and turns translucent, add the chopped garlic. Stir for a minute on low heat, you want to soften the garlic not burn it. Next add the tins of lentils, tomatoes and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for about 10 minutes.
 
Whilst the bolognese is simmering, cook the spaghetti by boiling it in a large pan of boiling water for about 12 minutes. Drain & serve with the bolognese sauce.
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

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

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.

Portrait of GP and cookbook writer Dr Chintal Patel, ambassador for the Bang in Some Beans campaign

Dr Chintal Patel

Chintal is an NHS GP with over 20 years of clinical experience and an award-winning food content creator. With a passion for nutrition and lifestyle medicine, she helps families cook wholesome, affordable and accessible meals. Chintal is also a cookbook author, recipe developer and regular contributor to publications including Good Food. She runs cookery classes and health education workshops for adults and children, sharing practical advice on family nutrition and feeding picky eaters.

drchintalskitchen.com/

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