Chris Chinn
Serves: 2
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 10 mins
Ingredients:
4 slices of (sourdough) bread
Soft butter, for spreading
150g sliced cheese, a mixture of cooking mozzarella, Cheddar and Gruyère (or similar cheese mix)
2 tsp olive oil
1 bunch asparagus washed, trimmed and blanched by boiling for 1 minute then running under a cold tap
Veg Portions / Serving: 1
Turn seasonal veg into comfort food this spring with this amazing, indulgent asparagus grilled cheese!
Method:
Butter the bread on both sides. Layer each piece of bread with the cheese slices.
Heat a large frying pan over a medium heat and add a teaspoon of olive oil in when hot. Put two slices of bread in the pan, cheese side up and top one slice with a handful of blanched asparagus spears. Put a lid on the pan to allow the cheese to melt and the asparagus to heat through.
After a couple of minutes, remove the lid and sandwich the two halves together. Press down firmly with a spatula.
Repeat with the second sandwich. Serve with cress, pickles, or chutney.
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
Let the kids butter the bread and top with cheese slices.
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.
Chris Chinn
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