Hit me with your kid-friendly salads

[MustardMitt]

So I want us as a family to make more of an effort to eat more vegetables. We are all guilty of eating really quickly as well, so my genius idea is that for dinner we’ll have a starter and a main meal, with the hope that the salad stuff and natural gap between courses will make us a bit healthier (and hopefully we’ll lose a bit of the lockdown/Christmas tinder!)

Personally I know I could live on diced red onion and tomatoes with some balsamic vinegar, but my kids will want some variety - they’re also (bar one) not great salad eaters anyway - so any good ideas would be welcomed. Doesn’t really have to be salad, so long as it’s naturally low cal and has a vegetable component. Don’t worry I will ensure the rest of the meal incorporates protein/carbs and the rest, might even low carb for me and husband.

Any bright ideas? Or does this seem like madness?!

Umm - I go for the pizza express crudités option of chopped up red pepper, cucumber and exotic addition - carrot they eat it with no arguments!

My dd2 dislikes most salad items so I make 'smiley salad' for her. It's literally lettuce arranged in a circle ish shape, with cucumber triangles for eyes and nose, and a cucumber semi circle for a mouth. Hair is a variety of shapes *sometimes seasonal eg. Cuc Santa hat, spikey for Halloween...sometimes hair is grated or triangled red leicester (only cheese she will touch).

May not be what you're after but it makes my life easier since I know she'll happily eat a smiley salad :)

Both of those will probably work! I could also add in pineapple - oh actually, salads with apple and carrot (or something) is a thing isn’t it?

@MySaladDays75 (apt username!) do you dress your crudités?

Madness. Unless you use same plates.

Grated carrot, olives, sugar snap peas or mangetoute, pepper, cucumber, tinned sweetcorn, uncooked baby corn, tomatoes, baby spinach, gherkins, avocado, capers, celery, radishes, beetroot, rocket, raw sliced baby mushrooms, edamame beans. Just put a big selection on a tray and everyone help themselves?

We have homemade ‘kebabs’ with lots of salad - lettuce, cucumber, red cabbage, tomatoes and onions, with marinated chicken in pita’s - not quite what you’re asking but it’s a great meal and the kids will eat them!!
At the moment as we’re all at home we have sandwiches for lunch on weekdays - fairly boring I know but tend to have granary bread with chicken, tuna, ham etc with lots of salad in them.
We tend to eat a lot of things like cottage pie but instead of plain mash I do a carrot, swede and potato mash so get some extra veggies in that way. Fajitas are also a good way of getting peppers/onions etc into a meal and these are a massive hit in this house!
Other meals we have stews, casseroles, bbq marinated chicken with new potatoes and veg.
Soup is always a winner here with some crusty bread for the kids - soups are easy to make.
Pasta dishes are always easy to get some veg into as well.
My kids are 8,7,2 and 10 months so I do make sure they’re not eating ‘diet’ food as such but I did slimming world for a while and it helps to train your brain what’s good and what’s not for meals.

Fairly boring suggestions so might not be much help!!

This is a great salad that both my DC (6 & 2) eat - we just don't add the dressing to theirs.

goodfoodandredshoes.blogspot.com/2016/05/hairy-dieters-chickpea-hot-smoked.html?m=1

Add strawberries, grapes, pineapple and sultanas to any salad. I also like grapes in a cheddar cheese sandwich.

Mine will eat anything on a stick so I cut up bright raw veg into fancy shapes and stick it on a skewer- stuff like cherry tomatoes, cucumber, carrot, yellow pepper, mange tout etc plus some other bits like cheese cubes, cocktail sausages etc so it's not too 'vegetabally'

@user686833 I probably will do that to start with but I’d like to try some actual recipes, with vinaigrette and stuff like that.

@Hidinge I will try the stuff they like first!

Add sweetcorn!

We had salad as the starter in my house. Just lettuce, cucumber, tomato and sweetcorn was accepted by everyone. Potato salad with tomato and sweetcorn, you could also add grated carrot or cucumber or pepper or anything else really - slowly reduce the potato and egg quantity so it ends up being more veg.

Two raw 'portions' per meal was the rule with my parents. So one bit of salad and one piece of fruit, or two pieces of fruit, or a large portion of salad. Sometimes they'd make chickpea salad which is literally drained chickpeas from a tin (or boil your own), with slices of cucumber and finely chopped onion. Sometimes with tomato. We loved it. That would count as one portion. Quinoa salad with lots of pomegranate. Doesn't have to be 100% veg to being with.

@APurpleSquirrel that recipe looks fab actually, we’re a big fan of Middle Eastern style foods, we quite regularly have a shakshuka (which is incidental pretty healthy) so I reckon they’ll love it.

I love the idea of veggie kebabs. Hadn’t considered that, although I do remember when they were littler feeling like a proper domestic goddess when I did fruit skewers instead of mini milks on a hot day!

@Matilda1981 I do a lot of those type meals already - although admittedly hadn’t considered putting swede and carrot in the spud - I just find that it’s very easy to shovel down the bits the really like. Having it beforehand I’m hoping will slow them down.

If it doesn’t work though, it’s all good for me and DH who were overweight well before Christmas.

You know what they all love peppers but won’t eat them in fajitas the little buggers

@EileenGC you’ve reminded me, my mum used to make Russian salad when I was a kid - potatoes, tuna, egg and maybe peas? Mixed with mayo. I could do similar but do half mayo/half yoghurt to lighten it up a bit. Great idea.

I’m not averse to cooked veg either, I like roasted veg a lot and could eat that alone. Or ratatouille. Something like that.

I do “finger salad” - carrot sticks, sliced peppers, cucumber sticks, celery sticks - which the dc will eat. Dd (9) likes dips, ds (12) doesn’t. They get tortilla chips sometimes too as a treat.

@BikeRunSki my three love salsa and guac, I could probably get them to eat more that way!

Actually avo bruschetta would be good.

@MustardMitt oooh Russian salad. I forgot about that! We all hated mayo so my mum only made it on Christmas Eve, as that's what they had in my DGM's country. I never thought about doing half Mayo, half yoghurt. I imagine that would taste so much better for some reason

@EileenGC in the summer I did a pasta salad with that, half mayo half yoghurt, dash of white wine vinegar and some honey. It was a hit (although true to form of course the boys went off it ) but it’s a good starter I think.

I also have a massive bag of those crispy onions which was about all I’d have with carrot and blue cheese dressing at Harvester when I was a kid

I am not a fan of salads in winter. How about tomato soup or gazpacho? Serve with a tea spoon to slow you down

@LittleGungHo

I am not a fan of salads in winter. How about tomato soup or gazpacho? Serve with a tea spoon to slow you down

Tomato soup I understand, but gazpacho is still cold!

I've always liked salad but apparently this came from as a child I had raw mushrooms and sometimes banana on it! Odd I know but I've always loved both! So maybe a small portion of something that like as a topper?

My DS never ate salad unless it was his DGFs with grated carrot and a very small portion of crisps!

I know this sounds a bit show offy its really not meant to but my little girl loves Nigellas watermelon salad..we adapted it by using different cheese as the one Nigella uses is too strong and salty for her but its a messy salad that drip down your chin! don't think its supposed to but mine does and that makes it fun to eat for her age range! Not a shread of lettuce to be found and really yummy.My dd struggled with lettuce for years for some reason salads are quite hard for young kids to manage I found.

I’m a big salad eater by getting the rest of the family on board is a mission!
I make a sort of coleslaw based roughly on an M&S slaw. Shredded carrots, red onion, a bit of red cabbage but don’t over do it, with v finely chopped chilli (seeds removed), coriander and a spritz of balsamic and lots of lime juice.
Also like a salad of chopped celery, spring onions, apple and cucumber with a yoghurt dressing.
A Mexican influenced sweetcorn, peppers, red onion, and again lots of fresh lime juice.
Another option is to serve crudités (carrots, cucumber, peppers, celery) with a home made dip veg based dip. I make a lovely beetroot one that is really simple. In a blender put Vacuum packed beetroot, peeled and chopped apple, fat free yoghurt, a table spoon of mayo and the same of horseradish. Whiz and serve.