Jenny Chandler
Food writer, cookery teacher and former UN FAO Special Ambassador for Pulses, Jenny (jennychandlerblog.com) hosts demonstrations and writes for Borough Market. Her latest book is Green Kids Cook.
Jenny’s Pod-Powered Guacamole
Jenny Chandler
Effort:
Complexity:
Cost:
Serves: 4-6
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 2-3 mins
Ingredients:
300g (2 1/2 cups) podded fresh or frozen young peas or broad beans
1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp water
juice of 1 lime
2 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced
1–2 chillies, very finely diced (check the heat!)
4 sprigs of fresh coriander
salt and pepper
Veg Portions / Serving: 1
Extracted from Green Kids Cook by Jenny Chandler (Pavilion Books). Images by Kirstie Young.
Traditional guacamole is a delicious Mexican dip made from avocados. The trouble is, it’s so delicious that the world’s gone mad for the stuff. It’s all very well if you live in a hot climate with avocados growing up the road, but most avocados travel thousands of miles to arrive on our tables. NOT very eco-friendly.
BUT did you know that seasonal peas or beans make a lush guacamole, too, for a much more locally grown and sustainable snack (or you could just raid the freezer…)?
Method:
Put the peas or beans in a saucepan and pour over enough boiling water to cover. Set over a medium heat and cook at just a gentle bubble for 2–3 minutes.
Strain your greens through a sieve and cool them under cold running water.
Transfer the peas/beans to a blender or food processor along with the garlic, olive oil, water, lime juice and most of the spring onions and whizz until you have a smooth-ish purée.
Tip into a bowl and add the rest of the spring onions and half of the chilli. Chop the coriander stalks really finely and add to the purée along with most of the leaves. Season with salt and black pepper and give your guac’ a good stir.
Taste. Add more chilli, lime juice or salt and pepper, if you think you need more zip or zing. Garnish with the rest of the coriander leaves.
Traditional Guacamole
Up to 320 litres/ 70 gallons of water is needed to grow just 1 avocado – that’s the same as about 30 minutes in the shower!
For that once-in-a-while treat: just substitute the cooked peas or beans in the recipe with the flesh from 2 ripe avocados and mix in with the rest of the ingredients.
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
Older kids can do any of this with supervision. For younger ones, cook the peas/beans for them and then let them take over, helping them chop the coriander carefully with scissors and watching their hands around the blades of the food processor.
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.
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