Roasted summer veg sandwiches with garlic mayo
Serves: 4
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 15 mins
Ingredients:
For the garlic mayo
4 heaped tbsp mayonnaise
1 garlic clove
Juice of ½ lemon
Salt & pepper, to taste
Handful roughly chopped fresh parsley or basil, optional
For the sandwiches
2 peppers (any colour)
1 red onion
1 bunch tenderstem broccoli
(Olive) oil
4 ciabatta or baguette rolls, or 1-2 large baguettes or ciabattas
Optional (but delicious) extras:
Torn mozzarella or sliced Cheddar, optional
Ready-to-eat falafels or cooked meatballs (or leftover meat from a roast!), optional
More:
Want a way to make colourful summer veggies more appealing to the whole family? Roast them until sweet and stuff them in a sandwich! A thick layer of garlic mayo and perhaps some falafels, cheese or cooked meatballs doesn’t hurt, either…
Method:
Get your grill heating up to medium-high heat while you make the garlic mayo by grating or mincing the garlic, and whisking together with the mayonnaise and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and add in the fresh herbs, if using.
Tear the peppers into chunks, discarding the seeds, pith and stalks, roughly chop the red onion, and trim the ends of the broccoli, then toss them all in a couple of tablespoons oil and a tiny pinch of salt and spread out on a foil-lined grill pan or sturdy baking tray and pop until the grill until softened and just starting to char (remove the broccoli earlier if it cooks quicker than the onion and pepper).
The broccoli will likely be softened and lightly charred after just 4-5 mins, while the peppers and onions usually take closer to 8-10 mins, but keep a close eye on them in case they start to brown quicker than they soften, in which case it is best to turn the heat down on the grill and/or move the pan slightly further away from the heat and allow to cook a little slower.
When the veg is cooked, halve the bread lengthways and brush with a little olive oil, then heat under the grill with the insides facing up until hot and just starting to toast. Spread with the mayo and top with the soft, slightly charred veggies. If using, top with the cheese and put back under the grill for just a couple of mins to melt, then top with the other half of toasted bread and serve warm. Or swap the cheese for a couple of falafels to make a veggie ‘meatball-sub-style’ sandwich if you like!
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
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
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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