Next Steps Fajitas

Claire Wright

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In season now

Ingredients:

Meat strips or veggie alternative (or mince)

Fajita seasoning mix (or make your own using 1/2 tsp garlic powder and 1 tsp each smoked paprika, cumin and oregano)

A handful per person of 1-2 veg (see suggestions in recipe)

Tin of kidney or black beans

A little grated cheese (optional)

Tortilla wraps

We suggest you do this in stages, slowly, and go as far as works for your family, here’s how your final recipe might come together…

Method:

Cook the meat/veggie alternative according to pack instructions (usually just a case of frying in a little oil until browned and cooked all the way through). Add any fresh veg (eg: thinly sliced onions and/or peppers, sliced mushrooms, etc) and cook an extra 5-10 mins until just starting to soften.
Add seasoning and beans, if using, and cook an extra 2-3 mins until everything is heated through. If using any frozen/tinned veg (eg: sweetcorn, frozen edamame beans, frozen mixed veg, frozen shredded cabbage, etc), add with the beans and cook until piping heat (most thin/small veg will cook in less than 5 mins).
Serve in tortilla wraps, with a little grated cheese if you like.
If you want to, making this a “build-your-own” dinner by placing some healthy toppings into bowls on the table gives kids more control over the veg they eat, so try laying out a few fresh ingredients alongside grated cheese or sour cream like: shredded iceberg lettuce, shredded red cabbage, ripe avocado (sliced or mashed), finely sliced red onion, chopped ripe tomatoes or salsa, or thinly sliced cucumber.

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. Find out more here.

Kids in the kitchen

Why not get younger kids mixing a few spices to make your own fajita mix, choosing and serving fresh veg toppings into small bowls for the table, rolling up the wraps or spooning into taco shells, and chucking a couple of handfuls of your chosen veg into the pan.

Older kids might be ready to learn how to chop some fresh veg to add at the start of the meal, stir everything together in the pan, and stuffing wraps or picking toppings to serve!

Master these skills:

Cleaning vegetables, Tasting, Grating, Mixing

More about Kitchen Ninja Skills

Activities

Use arts & crafts as a stepping stone to interacting with the veg themselves. While you make your fajitas, why not set a child up with:

Pepper Face Mask

Pepper Veg Crown

Cut Out ‘n’ Colour Pepper

Chop Chop Pepper game

Take It To the Board Pepper game

Pens At the Ready Pepper puzzle

Find more arts & crafts and puzzles & games on our website.

Sensory

Why not start with a couple of slices of red pepper and get them to describe what they smell – does it remind them of anything? Maybe it smells like spices or the outdoors or tomatoes. If they take a bite without pinching their nose and then another while pinching it, does it taste different? See if they want to chuck some into the fajitas after having engaged with them.

Watch Ruth Platt’s sensory ideas for peppers video for more inspiration, or head to our Sensory page for more games, tips and ideas.

Serving

If your kids aren’t ready to be in the kitchen helping with part of the prep or cooking process, why not give them a job around the serving that could help them feel involved in the meal? Why not let your child be in charge of toppings? Let them choose a couple from our list of suggested fresh veg toppings and help them serve into bowls that can go on the table for a build-your-own fajitas dinner. Make sure to praise them for their choices as you pile them on your own fajitas, it may encourage them to try some on theirs! Get more ideas over on our Roles for Kids page.

Claire Wright

Editor: After leaving Exeter University with a degree in English Literature, Claire worked in various fields ranging from youth work and charities to publishing, before starting up a food-focused website when her first child was born. After being asked to project manage the publication of Veg Power's Crowdfunder book, Claire came on board as a fully-fledged team member in 2018 to take on the role of Communications Manager, then Editor, looking after Veg Power's website, content, recipes and social media platforms.

addsomeveg.com/

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