Joanne Roach (00:13)
Hello and welcome to the Food for Kids podcast. I'm Joanne from the Foodies. Today's episode is the May installment of our monthly roundup of five straightforward family-friendly recipes that use the fruit and veg that are in season right now in the UK.
The point of this quick list is to help out with some of that mental load of deciding what to make for dinner, while at the same time giving you some easy family-friendly ways to use more seasonal produce.
The month of May is the last and officially hungriest of the three hungry gap months, the months of the year where the winter stores have run out and the new season foods aren't ready yet. But although May is the month where pretty much all the winter foods have run out or gone to seed, it does have more new season crops than the previous months. And you can also get some early summer crops grown in the UK under cover, but without the oodles of heat and light that they would have needed in midwinter.
If you want a full list of fruit and veg to buy in May, then head over to episode 98 where I gave a fuller list. But here I have picked out three family meals, a dessert and a snack that can use some of those new May foods, but also do what our ancestors would have done and use some store cupboard staples and preserved foods too. So let's get to the recipes.
My first meal idea is to introduce asparagus in a super child-friendly way, which is by using the spears as soldiers in a dippy egg. Kids generally love dipping things and dipping into a perfect soft egg is a lot of fun. Also, if your child hasn't tried asparagus before, you can serve toasted soldiers alongside so they have something familiar and safe to dip to. You can either roast the asparagus spears or steam them. Choose the one that you think will be the most appealing to your child, but serve a boiled egg, some asparagus and some toast and model yourself eating both and see what they do. I will link in the show notes to a webpage which has some of the timings on for things and if you're in a plant-based house you could also do the same but dipping into a pot of vegan hollandaise so I'll link to an example of that or you could just use a garlicky mayo or a vegan cheesy sauce that you think would be fun for both toast and asparagus. Either way, it's a really low pressure way to introduce asparagus.
My second main meal idea is pasta with pesto, but with a twist that the pasta is made out of peas. If you can get hold of some new season peas and pod them together with your child, that's great. But if not, this will also work with canned or frozen peas. The recipe uses basically normal pesto ingredients, but with peas instead of the basil. And this makes a lovely hummusy kind of consistency, which is great to stir through pasta. I will link to an example that uses sunflower seeds which is helpful for families with nut allergies and it also adds in some extra peas to the pasta at the end if your child likes them. But you can equally just get some store-bought pesto and blend in some peas to thicken it and it will have the same effect.
My last meal idea is to use store-cupboard ingredients to make an at-home version of a sweet and sour as this is generally one of the most accepted takeaway flavours for kids. You can use frozen chicken nuggets or corn nuggets, but choose the ones with the kind of batter coating rather than the breadcrumb because this is the closest to a takeaway battered style sweet and sour. We just air fry or bake the nuggets as usual. And in the meantime, get some rice or noodles cooked depending on what your family likes and put a quick sauce together. I'll link in the show notes to an easy example, but you could also just get a shop-bought sachet or jar of sweet and sour sauce instead. Add any veg that your child likes. Traditionally you would use peppers, which aren't in season yet, but if it works for you then you don't have to be strict all the But other good veg for sweet and sours are broccoli, which is great from frozen, green beans, also good from frozen, and sweet corn, tinned or frozen. If you can get a hold of some pak choi that is in season now too. I'll link to an example and if your children don't like sweet and sour, then just do the same process but use a meaty feeling sauce like a hoisin or any sauce that you know they'd like. The key is to only add the nuggets in at the last minute and stir through the sauce so they get a bit saucy but without going soggy.
For dessert this month I'm going to suggest something with mangoes which are just coming into season now, and the suggestion is a mango lassi, which is a traditional Indian drink, a little bit like a smoothie using mangoes and yoghurt or kefir. You do need a blender, although a stick blender will do it fine, and if you can't get any lovely ripe mangoes, then frozen work well too. It makes a sweet, creamy drink, which is a nice way to introduce mangoes to kids, but if your child isn't keen on big fruity drinks, then you could just blend up some mango into a puree and have that alongside some vanilla ice cream for the same mango plus cream effect. I'll link in the show notes to an example of a lassi.
And finally, the snack idea for this month is to use the new season potatoes and have a bit of fun making tiny smashed potato pizzas. Basically, it's a way to use up leftover boiled new potatoes or you can just cook some through for this snack either in boiling water or in the microwave. You smash them into a disk using the bottom of a glass and then you add pizza toppings on top like tomato sauce, cheese and bits of ham or veggies and bake them until everything melts. You get gorgeously crispy potatoes with your child's favourite toppings but bite-size and they keep for a few days too and reheat in the microwave or refresh in the air fryer. Your child might really enjoy squashing the potatoes with the glass and sprinkling the toppings on. So I'll link to an example in the show notes for them to follow.
So that's my roundup of five seasonal family food ideas for May. I'll put the links to some examples of recipes in the show notes so you can find them easily. And as always, if you give one a try, I'd love to hear how you get on.
I'll be back next month with another set of seasonal ideas and I hope to see you later in the week for another interview episode. But in the meantime, happy eating.
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