Vic Borrill
Serves: 6
Prep time: 30 mins
Cook time: 30 mins
Ingredients:
drizzle of olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
200g grated carrot (approx 2 medium carrots), or 200g of other veg such as beetroot or courgette (squeeze the water out if using courgette)
150g oats
150g grated cheese (of choice)
1 egg
1 teaspoon marmite or soy sauce
1 tablespoon tomato puree
1 tablespoon sesame seeds (optional)
Other optional additions: pinch of black or chilli pepper/1 clove chopped garlic/fresh or dried chopped herbs or peppers
Recipe donated by Vic Borrill of Brighton & Hove Food Partnership. Food photography by Claire Wright | addsomeveg.com.
Brighton & Hove Food Partnership have been teaching adults and families to cook for over 10 years – this is one of our tried-and-tested favourite recipes. It could be made with any other veg that taste ok raw such as beetroot or courgette (but if using courgette squeeze out the water after grating).
Method:
Pre-heat oven to 170C/150C fan/gas 3. Line an oven tray with baking parchment, or brush it with olive oil.
Fry onion in oil over low heat till soft. Mix cheese, carrots + oats and add the onions. Beat egg with marmite/soy sauce and tomato puree, and mix well with the oats mixture.
Press into a greased baking tin and sprinkle with sesame seeds, if using. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until browned. Cut into squares. Good hot or cold!
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
Mention flapjacks, and kids tend to come running, so ask them to help make these to get them hooked on this savoury version. They can help measure, grate and mix, then once they’ve helped spoon the mixture into the tin, they can press it down and sprinkle over the sesame seeds.
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
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Vic Borrill (Brighton & Hove Food Partnership)
