We caught up with our friends over at Maggie & Rose who have been busy turning superfoods into delicious meals for mini superheroes.
Getting children to have a diverse and balanced diet is easier said than done. Quite often the skill is in the psychology and not the actual cooking of the dish; the biggest battle is convincing them to actually try something – generally children will decide they don’t like a type of food before they have even tasted it.
Normally it’s a visual thing; I mean let’s face it a bowl of spinach is not the most fun looking thing in the world! One of Maggie & Rose’s most successful cooking terms is “Superfoods for Superheroes” where they give each food a super power; simple things like carrots give you the super power of being able to see in the dark, or spinach gives you big muscles like Popeye. Their little minds process this information, curiosity gets the better of them and in the mouth it goes.
For continued success, this approach does need to be followed up by turning off the light and seeing what you can see, or getting them to flex their muscles and commenting them on how strong they are getting – that must be the spinach working!! Here are some of their favourite super food recipes, which are simple enough to get the kids involved in making them with you and are so tasty the whole family will love them!
Super Food Pie
WHAT’S IN IT
• 700g potatoes, sliced
• 400g sweet potato, sliced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 red chilli, finely chopped
• 1 thumb-size piece of ginger, grated
• 1 tsp each of ground cumin, coriander and garam masala
• A pinch of dried chilli flakes
• 200g frozen peas
• Juice of 1 lemon, plus extra wedges to serve
• small bunch of coriander, chopped
• 25g butter, melted
• 275g pack filo pastry
• 1/2 tsp poppy seeds
HOW TO MAKE IT
- Put the potatoes in a large saucepan of cold, salted water, then bring to the boil. Turn down and simmer for 5 mins. Add the sweet potatoes and continue to cook for 8 mins until just tender.Then drain really well.
- Fry the onion in the oil until soft, add the cumin seeds for 1 min, then stir in the garlic, chilli and ginger with the remaining spices. Cook for a further 2-3 mins, then turn off the heat and stir into the potatoes with the peas, lemon juice and coriander.
- Heat oven to 190C/170C fan. Halve the filo sheets, and use two-thirds of them, overlapping, to line a 22cm loose-bottomed cake tin with a little overhang. As you lay in each sheet, brush with melted butter and keep the rest covered with a clean tea towel. Spoon in filling and press down lightly. Cover with remaining filo, then fold up overhanging sides and scrunch up pastry near
the edges. - Poke several slits in the top of the pastry with a knife and brush with more butter.
- Sprinkle with the poppy seeds. Bake for 40-45 mins until golden brown. Serve either hot or at room temperature with lemon wedges.
Superhero Cauliflower Pizza
WHAT’S IN IT
For the Base
• Pre-made pizza mix
• Cauliflower, cooked and mashed
• Sprinkling of parmesan cheese
• Splash of water
• Large handful of kale
For the Pizza Toppings
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• Big glug of extra virgin olive oil
• Squeeze of lemon juice
• Sweet Potato, cubed and roasted
• Good sprinkling of mozzarella cheese
HOW TO MAKE IT
- Make up the pizza dough as per packet instructions but add 1 cup of cooked and mashed cauliflower and a good sprinkling of parmesan cheese (you may need water here).
- To prepare the pesto, use a hand blender, add a large handful of kale, a glug of olive oil, a crushed garlic clove and a squeeze of lemon. Whizz it all up.
- Roll out the pizza dough and spread the kale pesto and shredded mozzarella.
- Scatter the cooked sweet potato.
- Pop into the oven for 15 minutes at 200°C until golden brown and crispy.
Green Super Food Smoothie
WHAT’S IN IT
• 1 handful of spinach leaves
• 1 cup fresh mango chunks
• 1/2 banana sliced
• 3/4 cup coconut milk
• 1/2 orange juice
• 1 tbsp flaxseeds
HOW TO MAKE IT
- Add all ingredients into an electric mixer and blend until smooth.
- Pour into glasses and serve with a straw for a superhero treat.
