Veggie Fries - 3 Ways

Veggie Fries – 3 Ways

Claire Wright

Featuring:

Effort:

Complexity:

Cost:

Serves: 4

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

For basic root veg fries:

100g sweet potato

100g celeriac

100g swede

100g squash

100g beetroot, all cut into thin fry shapes (or use 500g of your favourite root vegetable, cut into thin fry shapes)

olive oil

seasonings: salt & pepper, your choice of dried herbs and/or spices

For carrot chips:

500g carrots, cut into thin fry shapes

1 tablespoon cornflour

olive oil

salt & pepper

handful fresh parsley, roughly chopped

For breaded courgette fries:

2 medium courgettes, sliced into thick chip shapes

5 tablespoons plain flour

1 egg, beaten

2 slices wholegrain bread, blitzed to breadcrumbs in a food processor

Veg Portions / Serving: 2

Recipe for Veg Power by Claire Wright.

Gone are the days when chips were only made from potatoes. These days, there are loads of recipe ideas out there for how to make fries from pretty much any root vegetable! Vegetable fries are an amazing, super-kid-friendly way to get more vegetables into your kids. They make an excellent replacement for potato fries as a side to a main, but they are just as delicious as a vegetable snack.

Try making a big batch at the weekend and bringing them out for after school snacks during the week to keep kids eating veg all day long! This recipe is even a great way to use up slightly older veg.

Method:

Basic Root Veg Fries

Preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Line at least one baking tray with baking paper. Toss the root veg in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and season. Roast for at least 30 minutes, then check on them. Give them a gentle shake and check on a couple – they should give when a knife is inserted into them. If the fries are still pale or hard, return to the oven until they are soft on the inside and golden and crisped up on the outside. This can take up to another 30 minutes, depending on the vegetable.

Tips for extra yummy fries: If you have time, soak starchier vegetables (sweet potato, celeriac) in cold water for at least 30 minutes before drying off thoroughly and roasting in oil. For crispier fries, lay the veg in a single layer on the baking tray, ensuring the fries don’t touch each other, and turn during cooking.

Carrot Chips

Preheat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Toss the carrots in the cornflour and 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil, then lay out on a baking tray lined with baking paper, ensuring the fries touch as little as possible. Roast for 40 minutes, or until the chips are soft on the inside and crispy and just catching on the outside. Season with salt & pepper, toss with the fresh parsley and serve.

Breaded Courgette Fries

Preheat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Roll the courgette fries in the flour, then the egg, then the breadcrumbs, so each courgette fry is covered. Lay on a lined baking tray and bake for 20-25 minutes, until courgettes are softened and breadcrumbs are golden.

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

Get the kids to add the veg to a bowl, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with seasonings, and use clean hands to toss it all together to coat the fries. Let them lay them out on the baking tray in neat rows and help them set the oven. Kids will also love dipping the courgette fries in the flour, egg and breadcrumbs.

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.

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.

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