Niki Webster
Serves: 2-4
Prep time: 1 hour
Cook time: 20 mins
Ingredients:
For the pancakes:
100g finely ground jumbo or porridge oats (blitzed in a food processor to resemble flour)
75g (rye) flour
1/2 tsp sea salt flakes
1 tsp quick yeast
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp caster sugar
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
250ml water
150ml almond milk
For the pesto:
3 tbsp pine nuts toasted
30g big handful basil
1 garlic clove
2 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
1/2 tsp sea salt
Twist black pepper
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Water, to loosen
For the mushrooms:
300g mushrooms, sliced
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Toppings:
1 avocado, chopped into cubes
Fresh basil
Veg Portions / Serving: 2
Breakfast (or brunch, or “brinner”) just got so much healthier and more delicious. Instead of plain pancakes drenched in syrup, impress everybody with these yummy oaty pancakes topped with creamy mushrooms and fresh avocado.
Method:
In a medium pan add the oil and heat to medium, add in the mushrooms and fry until soft. Season with a little salt and garlic powder.
To make the oat pancakes:
Heat a non-stick pan to medium and add a ladle full to the pan, tilt the pan to distribute the batter to the sides of the pan. Or use the ladle to distribute the batter in a circular motion. Allow to cook for 1-2 minutes until the oatcake is coming away at the edges and bubbling in the middle. Carefully flip and cook on the other side for a minute or so. Repeat.
To compile:
Top the oaty pancakes with the mushrooms, avocado and pesto.
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
Get the kids to make the pancakes and the pesto. They can mix ingredients, stir, add items to the blender and push buttons to do the majority of the work on these two items before cooking!
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.
Niki Webster
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