A tip or two on how to make vegetables tasty

I recently watched a British documentary titled 'Fast Food Baby' on ABC. The first thought that popped into my head after the show was 'how can parents expect their children to eat those bland plain-boiled vegetables that look like they have had all the vitamines and nutrients boiled out of them'? While my heart goes out to parents who try desperately to get their kids to eat fibre, the reality is if I were a kid, I probably would not consider broccoli or zuchinni that is plain-boiled without any flavours or raw celery sticks as remotely edible. It can only be commonsense that before parents can expect to get their kids to eat veggies without them sticking a tube down their throat, they must first learn how to make them tasty. There are so many delicious child-friendly vegie recipes out there that no kid deserves to be fed tasteless strings of fibre. All it takes is some innovative spirit and basic understanding of flavour combinations to make even the least popular vegies tasty. For instance, while raw cucumber can be quite bland on its own, you can whip up a tangy sweet and sour cucumber salad with chopped cucumber, garlic (or garlic salt), rice vinegar, sugar and a dash of soy. For the adult version, add chopped red chilli for a flavour boost. Eggplant can be tasteless on its own, and take on a slightly bitter taste if overcooked, but it acts as a 'flavour sponge' when cooked with other ingredients. For example,pan-fried eggplant with garlic and balsamic vinegar makes a simple-yet-delicious child-friendly dish. If there was ever a 'most-hated vegetable for children' list, then broccoli would most certainly top that list without a doubt. A simple make-over, however, is all it takes to boost broccoli's reputation. There are so many flavours that go well with broccoli, such as stir-fried broccoli with garlic and soy, steamed broccoli (not the over-cooked broccoli that takes on a poopy-brown colour) with a garlic and cheese sauce, or simply melted butter. I could sit here all day going on about how to make vegies taste good, OR I could urge all parents to folllow this simple recipe: season vegies with a bit of commonsense, creativity and knowledge, and what comes out WILL be eaten!

Quick spicy stew with leftover roast chicken, red pepper, leek and baby spinach-a recipe that makes Coles's $10 dinner campaign look like a scam!

Ingredients (for 4 people):

• ½ of leftover roast chicken ($8 for a whole roast chook from Franklins, so about $4-5 worth of leftover chicken)
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed ($0.20)     
• 1 large red capsicum or 2 small red capsicums ($2), cut into strips
• 1 large leek ($1.5),
• 1-2 birds eye chili ($0.10),
• Salt and pepper to taste (price negligible)
• 2 tablespoons of light soy sauce (price negligible)
• A handful of coriander ($0.50)
• 3 handfuls of baby spinach ($1.5-2)
• 1 tablespoon of rice vinegar (price negligible)           
• 1 teaspoon of sugar (price negligible)
• Olive oil (price negligible)

Total price: approximately AUD$10

Method:

Shred the chicken meat into strips (note: only use the chicken meat in this recipe, minus the skin, as the skin has too much of the roast chicken flavour for this Asian-inspired recipe). Sautee the garlic and leek in a dash of olive oil. Add some salt to help soften the leek. When the leek is softened, add the red capsicum strips, chili and black pepper. Put the lid on, and stew the veggies on medium heat for about 5-6 mins, or until the leek becomes creamy and capsicum softened. Add the chicken strips, soy sauce, rice vinegar and sugar, cook for 2-3 minutes until all the flavours are combined and chicken heated through. Add the baby spinach and cook with the lid on for 1-2 minutes, or until the spinach is wilted. Garnish with coriander and serve with steamed rice.

This recipe puts Coles’s $10 dinner campaign to shame, as it transforms the humble leftover cold chicken into a well-balanced one-pot wonder that goes a long way (rather than Coles’s $10 dinner recipes that mostly consist of only meat and carb). You can bulk up the dish even more by adding 1 more capsicum and leek, maybe even a few baby potatoes. You can replace the pricy baby spanich with its cheaper cousin English spanich. The carcass and skin can be kept to make a delicious chicken stock. There is no better way to use up the good ol' leftover roast chicken!