Vic Borrill (Brighton & Hove Food Partnership)
Serves: 4
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 15 mins
Ingredients:
250g gram (chickpea) flour
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 pinch chilli powder (optional)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp oil
400ml water (about ¾ pt)
1 clove garlic
1 onion
400g fresh spinach or chard, large stalks removed
a little frying oil
Veg Portions / Serving: 2
This is a delicious recipe for using up any leafy greens such as spinach or chard. You can also substitute the spinach with grated courgette or carrot, peas or broad beans, or thinly sliced cauliflower. Perfect for using up slightly older or just-wilting veggies that need eating!
Method:
Mix together all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle.
Using a wooden spoon to stir, add the oil and water bit by bit until it is like thick cream. Beat out all the lumps.
Finely slice the onion and crush the garlic.
Wash and shake dry the spinach or chard, and chop it up (not too small).
Combine the onions, garlic and leaves with the batter mixture.
Heat about half a centimetre of oil in a frying pan. When it is very hot, fry spoonfuls of the mixture on both sides until they are brown and crispy. Use a knife and fork to turn them over.
Drain on kitchen paper before serving.
Additional tips: Add 2 tablespoons of chopped, fresh coriander with the other vegetables for extra flavour. The dish could also be served with cucumber raita or tomato salsa. It can be eaten hot or cold, is great for lunchboxes and picnics, and suitable for vegans.
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 kids can make the fritters completely. Measure out ingredients ahead of time for little ones and have them mix the dry ingredients and stir through the wet to combine. Let them roughly chop the greens with scissors and stir everything well.
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.
Vic Borrill (Brighton & Hove Food Partnership)
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