Remember how I posted two days ago (I am on a roll :P) a way to plan meals that are balanced and healthy enough for toddlers and delicious enough for adults? Here is the link, if you missed it. I like taking my own advice so yesterday we decided to cook using the wheel too. It was N. who picked the ingredients and even though his first pick was buckwheat, we couldn’t find it at the local grocery store so we went for quinoa instead. Loulou Maya loved it and so did we. I have to say she was much more into the sweet potatoes than she was into spinach, but oh well… She did eat a bit of everything.

Toddler – friendly veggie meals

So, here is how I did it:

Ingredients for 2 adults and a bear cub

• 3 sweet potatoes
• 1 big onion
• 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 big cup quinoa
• 1/2 big cauliflower or 1 small one
• About 1/2 big bag fresh spinach (about 300gr)
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Lemon juice

Instructions

• Wash, peel and cut the sweet potatoes into cubes.
• Thinly slice the onion.
• Wash and separate the cauliflower to florets.
• Wash the spinach.
• In a deep pan or wok with a lid put enough olive oil to cover the bottom and add in the sweet potatoes, onion and garlic.
• Stir  to make sure the oil covers all the sweet potatoes, put the lid on and cook on medium heat for about 5′.
• Check the potatoes, stir and add a bit of water if necessary. Put the lid back on and keep checking every 5′ till they are soft and have absorbed the water. They should look caramelized at the end of it all.
• In a pot put the quinoa with double the amount of water and the spinach. On top put a steaming basket with the cauliflower in it. You can use a metal strainer for this purpose too of course and just put the lid of the pot on top.
• Bring to a boil and then cook on medium temperature for as long as the package suggests. I got a fast-cooking one that was ready in 8 minutes but if you have the regular, 15-minute one, remove the cauliflower after 8 minutes.
• Serve on a plate the spinach-quinoa, the cauliflower and the sweet potatoes and squeeze some lemon juice on top of the quinoa and cauliflower. Pour a tiny bit of fresh olive oil on top too.
• Add salt and pepper to taste and enjoy 🙂

Adult portion

Eating with your hands. Much more fun.