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Jason’s Rainbow Veg Kebabs

Jason Leonard OBE

Effort:
Complexity:
Cost:

Serves: 6 (2 skewers each)

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

8 red cherry or plum tomatoes, halved

half a butternut squash, chopped into 2cm chunks

1 medium yellow pepper, chopped into 3cm chunks

1 medium courgette, cut into 2cm chunks

1 large red onion, cut into 8 chunks

2 medium cooked beetroot, cut into 3cm chunks

olive oil, for brushing

1 garlic clove, minced (optional)

+ you’ll need 8 -12 wooden or bamboo skewers

Veg Portions / Serving: 2

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Recipe donated by Jason Leonard for Veg Power.

If you love to have a BBQ in the summer, these rainbow kebabs are a perfect vegetable recipe. Quick to make, fun for the kids, and packed full of colour. They are so simple – veg, stick, BBQ, eat. And with a simple grill setting, you can replicate it anytime of year. Below is my favourite combo. The beetroot and squash are deliciously sweet, but you can use mushroom, any colour of peppers, aubergines, or even broccoli.

Method:

First, soak the skewers in water for at least 10 minutes to stop them burning on the barbie. Then challenge the kids to make their own rainbows by threading the chopped veggies on to the soaked skewers.

Once they have finished, brush with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper. For extra flavour, add a little minced garlic to the oil or lightly sprinkle the finished skewers with mixed Italian herbs.

Cooking is simple – stick them on the BBQ or a campfire grill for 6-10 minutes until the veggies are soft and just starting to catch – make sure you turn them every minute or so to avoid burning.  Just in case the weather lets you down they will cook just as well under a medium grill, but will take longer, so keep an eye on them.

Then just rip them straight off the skewer! Excellent served alongside or instead of BBQ’d meats and a selection of salads.

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

Get the kids to soak the skewers in water before you start and give them the job of threading the veg on to the skewers. Letting them decide the order of the veg and how many pieces  should go on each stick will help get them thinking about the different flavours and colours. They can also measure the oil and crush the garlic.

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.

Jason Leonard OBE

Jason was a rugby prop who won 114 England & Lions caps, playing in the team which won 4 Grand Slams & 2003 World Cup. He currently sits on the boards of the British & Irish Lions and the 6 Nations.

jasonleonard114.com/

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