Deepika, here! When it comes to eating vegetables, children have their own theories about not liking them. I've heard things like they look funny, they're weird, they taste "ewww"- and so on. Most moms I know are in a constant struggle to encourage their kids to eat nutritious food, especially green vegetables, so to o make things easier, I'm sharing this delicious recipe for veggie tikis. They're filled with nutritious greens along with mixed vegetables, which are hidden.
Most kids-- including my own daughter-- love potatoes. She can eat anything mixed in potatoes or made with potatoes, so in today’s recipe I've mixed spinach-kale puree and mixed vegetable puree in potatoes as a base. I've flavored these with herbs like fennel seeds, basil and thyme, added some ginger and garlic to reduce the vegetable aroma, and finally baked them for 20 mins and they were done. These are great for any lunch and dinner. Just serve them with your child’s favorite dipping sauce or simply ketchup. (These are also easy to make ahead of time and pop in a lunch box before school!)
Spinach And Kale Tikis
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins
Make 16 Tikis (2 inches in diameter)
Ingredients:
- 2 Big Potatoes (boiled)
- 2 cups of Baby Spinach Leaves
- 2 cups of Kale Leaves
- 1 cup Mixed Vegetables (carrots, french beans, corn, peas) (steamed)
- 1 cup Breadcrumbs
- ½ cup Panko Bread Crumbs
- ½ cup Mozzarella cheese (shredded)
- 3 to 4 Black Peppercorns
- 2 Garlic cloves
- ½ Bay leaf
- ½ inch Ginger piece
- 2 teaspoon Fennel Seeds
- 2 teaspoon Basil leaves (chopped) or dried Basil leaves
- 1 teaspoon Dried Thyme
- 1 teaspoon Lemon Juice
- Salt and black pepper for seasoning
- A Little oil to brush the tikes for color.
Method:
Start by washing spinach and kale leaves well.
In a microwave safe container, add spinach, kale, bay leaf, a pinch of sugar (to retain the green color) and ¼ cup water. Cover it and cook it for 3 mins. Keep the ice bath ready. (Just add some ice in a bowl along with cold water)
After 3 mins transfer spinach and kale into the ice bath. Keep it immersed for 10 to 15 seconds.
In a food processor, add spinach-kale leaves, basil leaves, thyme, ginger, garlic, some salt and puree it into a smooth paste. Set it aside.
In, a food processor, add steamed vegetables and black peppercorns. Puree this, too, into a smooth paste.
In a mixing bowl add boiled potatoes, spinach-kale puree, vegetable puree, breadcrumbs, fennel seeds, mozzarella cheese, lemon juice and salt and pepper for seasoning.
Mix everything well with hand, crush the boiled potatoes. Make small tikis.
Dip each tiki in panko bread crumbs and place them on a cookie sheet layered with parchment paper or silicon cookie sheet. Brush some oil on these tikis to give it a brown color while baking.
Transfer them to a preheated oven (350*F) and cook them for 20 mins or till they are golden brown on each side. In the mid-cycle, turn the tikis, downside up, and brush with oil.
Serve these with your favorite dip or ketchup.
Photos and Recipe provided by Deepika of EasyBabyMeals.com