Thomasina Miers
Thomasina won BBC MasterChef in 2005. She is a cook, writer and presenter. She has written and co-edited 7 cookbooks. She is involved with initiatives to improve food in schools.
Thomasina’s Diced Avocado with Mango, Black Beans and Pickled Jalapeno
Thomasina Miers
Effort:
Complexity:
Cost:
In season now
Serves: 2
Prep time: 5 mins
Ingredients:
150g fresh mango, diced
the flesh from 2 medium Hass avocados
½ small red onion, finely diced
the juice of a lime
a small handful fresh coriander, roughly chopped
100g cooked black beans (from a tin or carton is fine)
1-2 tablespoon chopped pickled jalapeños
bread or pitta
For the dressing:
a pinch of cumin seeds
½ small garlic clove, crushed with a little salt
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Veg Portions / Serving: 2
Reciped donated by Thomasina Miers for Veg Power. Portrait photography by Tara Fisher | tarafisher.co.uk. Food photography by Claire Wright | addsomeveg.com. Recipe from Home Cook by Thomasina Miers.
This spicy, mouth-tingling salad is wonderfully fruity and satisfyingly filling.
Method:
Mix the mangoes with the red onion, lime, coriander, beans and jalapeños. Quarter, de-stone and peel the avocados, dice roughly and stir into the mango salad. Grind the cumin seeds with the garlic and salt in a pestle and mortar and stir in the olive oil. Dress the mango salad and check for seasoning.
Toast two slices of sourdough or granary bread, and serve with the salad – this is delicious with a fried egg on the side.
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
There are so many jobs suitable for small hands in these avocado recipes from Thomasina, including making the dressing, mixing the tahini with lemon juice and oil, rubbing the toasted bread with garlic and salt and mashing the avocado.
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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