Name: Quick baby roasties
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 250 gram baby potatoes, scrubbed; 250 gram baby beetroot, scrubbed and stalks trimmed; 2 cloves garlic; 1/4 cup olive oil; 1/4 cup orange or mandarin, zest and juice

Quick baby roasties

We live in an age where there has never been more interest in food and cooking and yet many children have no idea where the food they eat comes from. We have a huge problem with childhood obesity and yet many children lack essential nutrients. Writer Michael Pollan’s mantra ‘Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants’ rings true, but we have no hope of achieving this unless we allow children to be part of the ‘farm to fork’ journey

Ingredients

250 gram baby potatoes, scrubbed

250 gram baby beetroot, scrubbed and stalks trimmed

2 cloves garlic

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup orange or mandarin, zest and juice

Method

1.Preheat oven to 180°C. Parboil vegetables in boiling salted water for about 10 minutes or until almost cooked through. Cook beetroot in a separate pot to prevent everything turning pink.

2.Crush peeled garlic with some salt and pepper in a mortar and pestle and mix in the oil and orange zest.

Add 1 tbsp each toasted cumin seeds and coriander seeds, 1 tsp chilli flakes and a few sprigs fresh thyme to the roasting tray Even toddlers are capable of helping with most of this recipe. They will enjoy scrubbing the vegetables and trimming the stalks. You may need to help them peel the garlic and zest the orange but let them bash the dressing ingredients and toss them with the vegetables. The vegetables for this dish were bought at my local farmers’ market. The carrots came in a multitude of colours and shapes, including an entwined pair. Not everyone is lucky enough to have a vegetable garden, but if you have a farmers’ market nearby, it’s a great way for children to get the ‘farm to fork’ concept I also bought peas in their pods. Podding peas, when in season, is another fabulous activity for children – and, of course, many of them are consumed before they reach the pot!
Note

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Ingredients

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