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How to build a kid-friendly salad

May 29, 2017 by Samantha 10 Comments

Salad for kids? You betcha ya. How to build a kid-friendly salad is scrumptious and adaptable to suit your family’s taste preferences. 

How to build a kid-friendly salad | My Kitchen Love. #Salad for kids, toddlers, and adults a like LOVE this salad. Simple, quick, and easy to make with produce available year round. #family-friendly

* This post is in partnership and sponsored by Half Your Plate Canada. All opinions remain my own (because I truly do love vegetables).

How to Build a Kid-Friendly Salad is the salad we enjoy 2-4 times per week. It’s the salad my kids ask for (yes, all 3), it’s quick and easy to loaded up at least half your plate with vegetables, and above all else, it tastes really freaking good. Since Half Your Plate Canada is partnering with me for this post it’s easy to see why I’m sharing what is my “secret family recipe”. Only, no longer a secret obviously.

You might remember my Celery Lentil Salad that I previously partnered up with Half Your Plate Canada for. As you may have guessed, Half Your Plate is all about filling up at least half your plate with fruits and vegetables, which makes me a very happy momma.

How to build a kid-friendly salad | My Kitchen Love. #Salad for kids, toddlers, and adults a like LOVE this salad. Simple, quick, and easy to make with produce available year round. #family-friendly

A few weeks ago, I attended the Canadian Produce Association Marketing Trade Show (aka #CPMA2017) to scope out … well, produce. I got to see produce growers making fruits and vegetables more appealing to kids and families (think handy veggie snack pack designed to entice kids), new products and innovations (Arctic Apple anyone?) as well as lots of sampling (can you guess what my favourite part was?).

I returned home tired, full, and feeling more excited about fruits and vegetables than I have in a while. Throughout the trade show I kept thinking about this salad. If there’s a dish that gets my kids excited about vegetables, this salad was the start of it.

image and text of ingredients for a kid-friendly salad

There’s deep satisfaction in filling at least half your kid’s plate (and your own!) with salad. Bursting with nutrients, these salads are customizable to a certain extend making them an ideal alternative to the usual steamed vegetable.

The ingredients shown above are included in all our salads. One child adores tomatoes so we load up her salad with those, another bell peppers, and finally my toddler who gets a bit of extra cheese (because she’s a toddler and since she’s eating a salad she can have as much cheese with it as she wants in my opinion). We customize each salad to taste, but only within the parameters above, ensuring I’m not a short-order cook.

How to build a kid-friendly salad | My Kitchen Love. #Salad for kids, toddlers, and adults a like LOVE this salad. Simple, quick, and easy to make with produce available year round. #family-friendly

A couple of pro-tips for introducing salad to babies, toddlers, and kids:

  • serve salad first before any other food hits the table (and don’t serve anything else till it’s gone, hardcore but effective);
  • cut down on snacking between meals to make sure kids are hungry;
  • don’t include any vegetable they detest (especially at first);
  • cut all pieces into age appropriate sizes (very small for babies and toddlers);
  • use Romain, Bibb, or Green/Red Leaf Lettuce in much smaller bites than what seems normal, almost shred the lettuce. I know this comes off as weird, but ice berg lettuce isn’t substantial enough and spinach or arugula can come off as too strong;
  • use softer vegetables with peel removed for babies/toddlers (e.g. cucumber); and
  • garnish with kid-favourites such as cheese or fresh herbs, and favourite vinaigrette.

When my older kids originally became interested (they were 2 years old), I would make myself this salad and relish over how amazing it was to them. They of course wanted in on the delicious dish I was enjoying … and voilà. Kids addicted to salad.

Image of kid-friendly salad
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How to build a kid-friendly salad
Prep Time
10 mins
 

Salad for kids? You betcha ya. This salad is scrumptious and adaptable to suit your family's taste preferences.

Course: Salad
Cuisine: American
Author: Samantha
Ingredients
  • 1 head romain lettuce, trimmed and cut into 1/4" wide stripes (or chopped smaller for babies/toddlers)
  • 1 medium-large bell pepper (preferably red, orange, or yellow), cut into thin stripes
  • 1 medium long English cucumber, quartered and chopped into 1/4" wide pieces (remove skin for younger babies and kids)
  • 1 stalk celery, sliced into 1/4" wide pieces
  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes (or other smaller tomatoes), halved or cut smaller for younger babies and kids)
  • 100 grams feta or other cheese, crumble over salad (optional)
  • Vinaigrette of choice for serving
Instructions
  1. Combine ingredients in one large bowl or into personal sized bowls/plates. Drizzle lightly with dressing.

Recipe Notes

* Be sure to check out the pro-tips for building salads for kids in the post above. The bullet on cutting down the vegetables to age appropriate size is probably of the upmost importance.

Nutrition

Calories

10 cal

Carbs

1 g

Protein

1 g
Click Here For Full Nutrition, Exchanges, and My Plate Info
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Samantha @MyKitchenLove

Yields 4-6 servings as a side dish

How to build a kid-friendly salad

Salad for kids? You betcha ya. This salad is scrumptious and adaptable to suit your family's taste preferences.

10 minPrep Time

10 minTotal Time

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Ingredients

  • 1 head of romain lettuce, trimmed and cut into 1/4" wide stripes (or chopped smaller for babies/toddlers)
  • 1 bell peppers (preferably red, orange, or yellow), cut into thin stripes
  • 1/2 long English cucumber, quartered and chopped into 1/4" wide pieces (remove skin for younger babies and kids)
  • 1 celery stalk, sliced into 1/4" wide pieces
  • 1/2 pint cherry tomatoes (or other smaller tomatoes), halved or cut smaller for younger babies and kids)
  • 100 grams feta or other cheese, crumble over salad (optional)
  • Vinaigrette of choice

Instructions

  1. Combine ingredients in one large bowl or into personal sized bowls/plates. Drizzle lightly with dressing.

Notes

Be sure to check out the pro-tips for building salads for kids in the post above. The bullet on cutting down the vegetables to age appropriate size is probably of the upmost importance.

7.8.1.2
157
https://www.mykitchenlove.com/how-to-build-a-kid-friendly-salad/

Enjoy! xo

How to build a kid-friendly salad | My Kitchen Love. #Salad for kids, toddlers, and adults a like LOVE this salad. Simple, quick, and easy to make with produce available year round. #family-friendly

Filed Under: Baby Food, Salad, Weekday Dinner Tagged With: how to, kid-friendly, salad, vegetables

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About Samantha

Mom of twins, a singleton, and wife to a hungry husband. The food demands that surround me, have pushed me to lead our food life more simply, nutritiously, and deliciously. It's a good day when family, friends, and food intersect.

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Comments

  1. Avatartabithatalksfood says

    May 29, 2017 at 12:27 pm

    Yum, I love fresh salads like these!
    Reply
    • AvatarSamantha says

      May 31, 2017 at 8:15 pm

      Me too ... so refreshing and a great way to hit reset.
      Reply
  2. AvatarTina says

    May 29, 2017 at 1:20 pm

    What a great idea! I wish I knew this when my daughter was young:) Thanks for sharing!
    Reply
    • AvatarSamantha says

      May 31, 2017 at 8:15 pm

      Pleasure! Vegetables can be a rough go for a lot parents. :)
      Reply
  3. AvatarMelissa Griffiths says

    May 29, 2017 at 7:01 pm

    I'm all about getting my kids to eat veggies. We do a fresh veggie box in the fridge that always has fresh, cut-up veggies in it for snacking. When they start bugging me about being hungry right before dinner, I set the box out and they can snack on that if they're really hungry! This salad looks delicious, and your tips for getting them hooked early on are great!
    Reply
    • AvatarSamantha says

      May 31, 2017 at 8:14 pm

      What a great idea! I'm going to give the cut up veggies for pre-dinner snacking a try.
      Reply
  4. AvatarFresh Off the Grid says

    June 6, 2017 at 10:27 am

    These are great tips! I don't have kids, but I think these apply to adults, too. I know that when I snack throughout the day I tend to cut out components of my dinner... and salad is usually the thing I skip :( Definitely room for improvement in our house!
    Reply
    • AvatarSamantha says

      June 7, 2017 at 6:58 pm

      That's a really great point; I'm the same too. And usually my snacking isn't as good as it should be.
      Reply

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AvatarHi! Thanks for coming by! I'm a mom with 3 young daughters, a wife, and a foodie trying to keep my head above water with simple, delicious, and nutritious food. Let me know if you have any questions or comments. I'd love to hear from you! Read More…

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