Jennifer John
Jennifer John, a trained home economist and a member of the Guild of Food Writers has been working with the Discover Great Veg campaign for many years, including, developing recipes.
Jennifer’s Spaghetti Bolognese with Kale
Jennifer John
Effort:
Complexity:
Cost:
Serves: 4
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 30 mins
Ingredients:
1 onion, chopped
400g pack minced beef
1 tsp dried mixed herbs
1 tbsp tomato puree
400g can chopped tomatoes
400ml beef stock
½ x 500g bag kale
300g spaghetti
Veg Portions / Serving: 1
Recipe donated by Discover Great Veg for Veg Power. Photography by Discover Great Veg | discovergreatveg.com
Add some leafy greens subtly to a family favourite – it’s a simple recipe for success when it comes to introducing more veg to kids.
Method:
Fry the onion, mince and herbs for 5 minutes to brown. Add the tomato puree, chopped tomatoes and stock. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
Add the kale and cook for a further 5 minutes. Season.
Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in boiling water for 10 minutes until tender, drain and serve with the Bolognese sauce.
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
Let the kids add the kale to the sauce, and have them fill the pasta saucepan with water to bring to the boil. Get them to stir the sauce through the pasta before serving.
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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