Delightful Purple King Beans

Purple king beans are easy to grown, you just put them in the ground, water them occasionally and up they pop, producing amazingly prolific purple beans. I love the flowers, the taste and the colour!

The Dreaded Greens

A post on Post-Industrial Parenthood's blog inspired me to reply with this.

My little one is constantly offered greens, without the dreaded "one more spoonful" tactic.Veges are a constant part of our diet and I can't cook without them. Sometimes they are hidden ingredients such as in "green" beef & mushroom soup, (the trick is to add a can of 4 bean mix, a little cream, lots of green things and some beef, then blend) or sweet potato chips with chickpea (and parsley and garlic) dip instead of plain potato chips.

Spanish Omelet, yum!

Sometimes it's more overt such as a huge plate of nibbly things, cut up uncooked veg, fruit and cold meats, that are eaten on the front lawn. The original post also made me wonder how many people don't have veg regularly in their diet simply because they are swamped with unpleasant memories of overcooked congealing boiled vegetables on their plate that they where forced to eat as a kid? I feel so very lucky that my main memories of veg come from the delicious culinary delights of the Darwin food market culture.

Image Courtesy of the australiantraveller.com

I admit that her being only two means there is  still a lot of aversion therapy yet to be required, but thats in the future. For now, on the occasion that she simply won't try something we choose an animal that she likes and say that the animal loves that sort of food. She is adoring being a pussy cat eating her lettuce or a doggy eating a cucumber. Peer pressure from people other than us, even if she's only taking our word for it, seems to work wonders.

Hidden vege sauce with pasta

Anyone which a child under 12 knows how hard it can be to get veges into them. This proved to be a hit today and is also very very yummy for adults too.

1/2 can 4 bean mix
1/4 Dolmino garlic and tomato pasta sauce
1/2 medium carrot, grated
1/2 medium beetroot, grated
handful of chopped beetroot or spinach leaves
a little water
1 tbs oil/butter
lots of spiral pasta

1. Combine the butter, carrot and beetroot on high heat in a small pan till they soften.
2. Add the beetroot leaves and beans, cook until the leaves wilt a little.
3. Remove from heat and add the tomato sauce.
4. Place in a blender, ad a little water if necessary to achieve a smooth thick paste.
5. Add to hot drained pasta and allow to cool a little.