Kids can be fussy about fruits and vegetables and we know how challenging it is to make sure they are eating the suggested amount a day and we are raising healthy eaters. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and an optimal time to get in those fruits and veggies. Here are three easy green recipes from Eat More Greens by Zita Steyn to get them excited about breakfast. Bonus: they can’t be pinched if they eat this on St. Patrick’s Day!
Ultimate Green Smoothie
If you are not one for green smoothies in general, you should try this one. It is quite delicious and very virtuous. It helps having a high-speed blender, but if you don’t, just keep blending until the mixture is smooth. You will need to soak the almonds overnight, and if you struggle to buy frozen mango or pineapple, peel and chop up the fruit the night before and freeze it.
Serves 2 to 3
Ingredients
- 1 lemon
- 1½ cups coconut water, preferably raw
- 3/8-inch piece ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
- Handful of almonds, soaked overnight, or for at least 6 hours, and rinsed
- Big handful of kale, thick stalks discarded, leaves coarsely chopped or torn
- 1 tsp. green powder of your choice (optional)
- 1 ripe medium banana, cut or broken into chunks
- 1½ to 1¾ cups frozen fruit
Directions
1. Cut the lemon in half then cut a thick slice off one half. Chop this up roughly and place in a blender. Squeeze the juice from the remaining lemon halves and add, together with the coconut water, ginger, and almonds, to the blender. Blend until smooth.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth and creamy. If your blender allows for the use of a tamper, it is a good idea to press the frozen fruits down into the blade to avoid uneven blending.
Chard and Feta Savory Muffins
These muffins (not the eggs-Benedict-kind, but the American-baked-goods-kind) are great to take along to a picnic or as an after-school snack. Look for traditionally made, soft cooking chorizo that has no added nasties, and choose the mild version if you are feeding youngsters. If you are vegetarian, leave out the chorizo and fry the onion and chard in a little butter or coconut oil, but add another tsp of smoked paprika powder and perhaps a little more cayenne pepper.
Makes 12
Ingredients
- 7 oz. traditionally made cooking chorizo (the soft kind), casings removed and broken into small pieces
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 10½ oz. rainbow or Swiss chard, stalks chopped into small dice, leaves shredded into bite-size pieces
- Generous 2 cups wholewheat spelt flour
- 1 Tbsp. baking powder
- 1½ tsp. smoked paprika
- ½ tsp. cayenne pepper (omit if using spicy chorizo or cooking for children)
- 1 cup parsley, leaves only, finely chopped
- 3 medium eggs
- 5/8 cup whole milk, or milk substitute
- 2 Tbsp. butter, coconut oil, or ghee, melted, plus extra for greasing
- Scant 1 2/3 cups feta cheese, crumbled
- Sea salt
Directions
1. Sauté the chorizo in a hot, dry frying pan until the fat starts to render, then add the onion and cook until soft and translucent. Scrape the mixture into a bowl.
2. Add the chard stalks to the pan with a small pinch of salt. Cook until tender, for 5 to 10 minutes, depending on size. If they are drying out, add a splash or three of water to the pan. Add the chard leaves and cook for about a minute, or until wilted.
3. Tip all the chard into a food processor or onto a cutting board, and chop finely. Add this to the chorizo and onion mix, then set aside to cool.
4. Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 12-hole muffin tray or 2 smaller cupcake trays.
5. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and spices in a bowl and stir in the parsley.
6. Whisk the eggs, milk, and melted fat in a separate bowl or measuring cup, and pour into the dry ingredients along with the cooled chorizo and chard mixture, and the feta. Using a large spoon, mix only until just combined; do not overmix. Spoon into the greased muffin pans.
7. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes until golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean (allowing for patches of melted feta). Let cool in the trays for a couple of minutes before turning out onto wire racks to cool completely.
Oat and Kale Breakfast Biscuits
Always on the look-out for interesting meals to start the day with, I regularly make this for my family and friends. Nutritious, filling, and different yet familiar, it ticks all the boxes for a special breakfast dish. Being gluten-free, it is a very crumbly biscuit, but no less delicious for it. Instead of the kale and nutmeg, you could add lots of finely chopped chives and cayenne pepper, or a little goat cheese and chopped thyme leaves. Roughly chopped black olives and finely chopped rosemary make a good addition, too.
Makes 9 smallish biscuits
Ingredients
- A little olive oil
- 1 small onion, diced
- 3½ oz. kale, stalks removed, roughly chopped
- 2 cups oat flakes (certified gluten-free if you are sensitive)
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- ½ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
- Large pinch of sea salt
- 1 Tbsp. chia seeds, mixed with 2 Tbsp. water and stirred until a thick gel forms
- ½ cup cold butter (or firm coconut oil, hardened in the refrigerator), cut into small cubes
- ¼ cup apple puree or applesauce
- 1 egg, lightly whisked
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a medium baking sheet with baking parchment.
2. Heat the olive oil in a pan, add the onion, and sweat over gentle heat until soft and translucent. Add the kale and sauté until tender and cooked, then process in a food processor, or chop very finely by hand, press out any moisture and set aside to cool completely.
3. Spoon half the oat flakes into the food processor (no need to rinse) and blitz until very fine. Add the rest of the flakes and pulse a few times until the larger flakes are broken down slightly. Add the baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt, and pulse to mix.
4. Add the cubed butter or coconut oil and pulse until the mixture resembles wet sand. Add the cooled kale and onion mixture, the chia seed gel, apple puree, and egg, and process until the mixtures comes together. It should be a little on the sticky side.
5. Using a spatula, scrape the dough out onto the lined baking sheet. Form into a square about 3/4 in (2cm) thick, then score into 9 smaller squares, leaving them joined together. Bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes until golden, rotating the sheet halfway through cooking.
6. Carefully slide a spatula under the biscuits to loosen them from the baking parchment, then separate the pieces using a knife, move them apart a little to give them some room and return to the oven for another 10 to 12 minutes, to crisp the edges.
7. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Serve with butter, hollandaise, and poached eggs for breakfast.
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Recipes excerpted with permission from Eat More Greens by Zita Steyn: photography by Nassima Rothacker, published by Quadrille Publishing March 2017, RRP $24.99 hardcover. |
