Teach your children to eat better through experiential learning.
Teach your children to eat better through experiential learning.
We're big proponents of teaching kids to eat healthy by tying on an apron and getting in the kitchen. Unfortunately, a lot of cookbooks are too complicated for little hands.
Not so with the adorable Help Yourself Cookbook For Kids: 60+ Easy Plant-Based Recipes Kids Can Make to Stay Healthy And Save The World (Andrews McMeel, 2016), written and illustrated by author and artist Ruby Roth. It features super-easy and super-tasty recipes with minimal ingredients, prep time and (this is important) stove use. Whenever a recipe calls for time in the oven, Roth suggests that children employ the help of an adult.
What I love most about this cookbook, besides Roth's cute illustrations, is that it inspires kids to eat healthy through their love of animals and exploration—not through fear of getting overweight or sick.
Share this yummy salad with your whippersnappers and let them try to make it themselves.
Tiger Stripes Seaweed Salad
Makes 1 heaping cup (serves 1 or 2)
Dressing:
- 3 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons Bragg liquid aminos or shoyu
- 2 tablespoons tahini
- 2 tablespoons agave
Salad:
- 1 cup dry hikiki or arame seaweed (about 2 handfuls)
- 1/2 carrot, grated
- 2 teaspoons or more toasted sesame seeds
- 3-inch piece of green onion, chopped
Directions:
1. Blend the water, liquid aminos, tahini and agave in a blender. Reserve 1/4 cup of the dressing, and refrigerate the rest.
2. Soak the seaweed in a BIG bowl full of cool water for 15 minutes (it will double in size!). Then rinse in a fine-mesh strainer under cold water. Drip and shake off as much water as you can (you can even squeeze the seaweed dry or pat it dry with a clean paper towel), then mix all ingredients in a big bowl along with the dressing. Let the salad chill and soak in the fridge for 10 minutes or longer.
