Salads are not always a favourite with children. Compared to a muffin or a piece of pizza, they’re boring and hard to eat—stabbing a lettuce leaf isn’t easy. Adults often serve salads for health-conscious reasons rather than flavour. But it doesn’t have to be this way! Here are a few ways to turn salads into smiles.
• Serve salad first. When kids sit down for dinner, they are hungry. Invite them to the table as soon as the salad is ready, even if you’re still cooking the rest of the meal. You may be surprised at how quickly the salad disappears. Hunger is the best seasoning.
• Fun and flavourful. Always serve your salads with a few fun ingredients. Check out the salad topping suggestions for ideas to liven it up.
• Grow your own salad. Carrots, tomatoes and lettuce taste best when eaten fresh from the garden. See the section below for some balcony-friendly gardening ideas.
Balcony-Ready Vegetables
It’s easy to grow carrots, lettuce, peas and cherry tomatoes on a balcony. If you have a sunny balcony, then success is practically guaranteed! Partly sunny balconies are good options for carrots, peas and lettuces. Kids can help with all parts of vegetable gardening. They love planting seeds, watering and harvesting!
1. Start with a large pot. Place small stones or pieces of broken terracotta pot in the bottom for drainage. Fill the pot with good-quality potting soil. Carrots thrive with light, lofty soil, so starting with fresh soil makes growing them easy.
2. Seed carrots according to the instructions on the package. Buying lettuce, peas and tomato starts is an easy alternative.
3. Water deeply three times a week. The best way to make sure you’re fully hydrating the soil is to water twice, letting the soil sit for 30 minutes in between. Let your kids water first, then water the second time yourself. Then everyone has an important role.
Fun Salad Toppings
If you can get your kids excited for salads, then you’ll never need to worry about whether they’re getting enough vegetables. Salads are super quick, healthy and delicious! They can be made with pretty much anything you have in the house. The only secret is to include a bunch of different flavourful and fun ingredients.
I’ve divided the toppings into sweet and savoury options. I like to include one savoury and one sweet topping in a salad.
Savoury Toppings
• Toasted sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds
• Cubes of cheddar cheese or crumbled goat cheese
• Croutons or corn chips
• Crunchy vegetable chips
• Salty pickled vegetables
Sweet Toppings
• Fresh berries or thawed frozen berries
• Grated apple
• Cubes of peach, pear, mango
• Orange segments chopped into bite-sized pieces
• Dried fruit
• Candied nuts
Salad Dressings for the Win!
A simple and flavourful dressing is what brings a salad together. Here are a few salad dressings that can be mixed up in the bottom of the salad bowl, all set for tossing. Simply measure the ingredients into your salad bowl. Stir them up with a fork. Then build your salad on top.
Green Goddess Dressing
1⁄4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tbsp chopped chives
1 pinch of salt
Bright Berry Dressing
1⁄2 cup of fresh or frozen berries
1⁄4 cup of olive oil
2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp of Dijon mustard
1⁄4 tsp of salt
Creamy Yogurt Dressing
1⁄2 cup of yogurt
1⁄4 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp finely diced green onion or fresh chives
1⁄2 tsp lemon juice
1⁄4 tsp dried dill
1⁄4 tsp garlic powder
1⁄4 tsp salt
1⁄4 tsp freshly ground pepper
