Waldorf-ish Salad

Claire Wright

Featuring:

Broccoli

Celery

Lettuce

Effort:

Complexity:

Cost:

In season now

Serves: 4

Prep time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

50g mayonnaise

50g yogurt

Salt & pepper, to taste

1 bunch celery

½ head broccoli, grated or chopped into small pieces

4 generous handfuls of lettuce, roughly chopped or torn

2 apples, diced

2 handfuls seedless grapes, halved

2 handfuls walnuts, roughly chopped (or use walnut “pieces” which are cheaper and don’t need much chopping)

Handful fresh chives, roughly chopped, optional

Cooked chicken, 1 tin drained chickpeas/butter beans, or cubed/crumbled cheese, to serve

Veg Portions / Serving: 3

This veg-packed waldorf(ish) salad is made in no time and a crowdpleaser for all ages and tastes. Perfect for lunchboxes or a light dinner.

Method:

Prep the veg, separating the stalks from the celery bunch and chopping them into small pieces. Mix all ingredients together and serve straightaway. To make ahead, mix all the veg, fruit and nuts together in a bowl, then make the mayonnaise/yogurt mixture separately and add at the last moment when serving. Add the chicken, beans or cheese for added protein, and you can always add some croutons, or serve with wholemeal bread or toast to make a complete, balanced meal.

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 eventual aim, if possible, is to get kids in the kitchen. Don’t worry, this doesn’t have to mean they are with you from start-to-end creating mess and rising stress levels! It can be as simple as giving them one small job (stirring, measuring, pouring, grating, chopping…) ideally involving veg. They can come in to do their little bit, and have fun with you for a few minutes. Getting them involved, making it playful and praising them plenty for their involvement, perhaps even serving it as dinner they “made”, makes it much more likely they will eat the food offered, not to mention teaching them important life skills. Find ideas, safety tips, videos and even a free chart in our Kids in the Kitchen section here.

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.

addsomeveg.com/

Similar recipes