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GRUB'S UP ...
Healthy Alternatives for Kids’ Meals
As
I dash up and down the aisles of my local supermarket, nutritious new
menus for the kids’ suppers don’t often spring to mind. We’re
most likely to try something new on holiday. This year in France, for
instance, we bought too much veal for a grown-up supper, so someone suggested
covering it with breadcrumbs for the children. Gougons as we now call
them, of veal, chicken or a flaky white fish, are now a firm favourite.
Another hangover from a recent holiday is the surprising success of hummus
– not only is it superbly nutritious but the kids love dipping pitta
bread and chunks of celery and carrot into it – even the baby loves
it. Getting enough fruit and veg into all our diets is a constant challenge
– five pieces of fruit or veg a day is a lot! If you have a Kenwood
or smoothie maker, you can knock off one or two helpings in one swoop
– my children adore all the mess it involves and the instant results.
HOME-MADE SMOOTHIES
No one smoothie is ever the same. Here is a basic recipe for one of
our favourites but the whole point is to have fun experimenting. Frozen
fruit, especially blueberries and raspberries, work well and are cheaper
than fresh ones out of season.
Ingredients
1 ripe medium banana
3/4 mug blueberries/raspberries or mixture
1/4 mug softscoop vanilla ice-cream
3/4 mug milk
Pinch of cinnamon
1 handful crushed ice
Blitz in the blender for a minute on full power.
VEAL, CHICKEN OR FISH GOUGONS
Ingredients
One chicken breast/ 150g veal escalope/ 150g cod or haddock fillet
1 egg, beaten
Seasoning
50g breadcrumbs, in a large bowl
- The meat/fish must be as fresh as possible.
- Leave slices of bread to dry out overnight and whizz in a magimix or crumble by hand into fine pieces.
- Cut the meat/fish into long, thin pieces.
- Brush the meat/fish with the beaten egg and dip into a bowl of breadcrumbs so they are completely covered.
- Place on a metal tray and lightly brush the top with olive oil.
- Place in a preheated over (170C) and cook the chicken gougons for 20/25 minutes and the fish and veal for 15/20 minutes.
- The cooking time will vary depending on the size of the gougons. To check if they’re cooked, slice open with a sharp knife; the chicken and veal meat should be completely white but still juicy. The fish will change from a translucent white to a creamy white when just cooked.
- You can hold the cooking at this point, and when they have cooled down, freeze for up to three months.
- To reheat: place on metal tray and cook in oven (160C) for 10/15 minutes.
First published in angels and urchins, Spring 2004