You may well imagine that we ate a lot of salads while I was writing my salad cookbook, sometimes 3-4 per day. And we continue to eat salads often, including main dish salads. While this can be so refreshing and delicious to adults, the little folk don’t always agree.
One reason could be because they don’t always digest raw vegetables as well as adults. It takes a strong digestive system to break down raw vegetables, and young children may not do as well at breaking them down. Cooked vegetables can be easier for them to digest, hence the disdain towards salad.
My little 4 year old girl actually does like salad. In fact, this week we had salad several times at lunch at her request. I find that if I don’t feed her enough vegetables, she will still feel “hungry” despite eating plenty of other foods. Perhaps she likes vegetables because it’s always been an important part of our diet. One time a friend was joking to my dad about our daughter not being able to eat “anything” since she was on a gluten free and dairy diet. He made a sarcastic remark about broccoli. But unknown to him, my little girl overhead him. She rose up in defense, “But I like broccoli!”, she declared emphatically. And it was true. She does love it. But even with her liking salad, she won’t eat the proportion that Joel and I do. And I still have to figure out ways to help her enjoy a meal that is salad based.
Here are some of my tips for eating salad with little ones.
1) Easy on the Greens, Heavy with the Toppings
When I do a main dish salad, with cheese, fruit, meat, nuts, etc on top, I dish up my little girl’s plate differently. Joel’s and my plate will be full of leafy greens and topped with all the goodies. Little girl’s plate will be full of the goodies, with some leafy greens. Having to dive in and out of greens to find the meat or beans or avocados can be a daunting thing when you are 4. This way she feels that she has plenty of filling food, and will still eat some of her leafy greens too.
2) Salad Wraps
Along those same lines, I had a lot of fun making salad wraps for my cookbook. Here the salad is wrapped around yummy fillings and used like a “wrap”. It has a high filling to lettuce proportion which keeps meat lovers and little people happy. In my book I include recipes for Apple, Cranberry Turkey Salad (which can be used as a filling for a wrap), Soy and Sesame Chicken Wraps, Taco Wraps (think tacos using lettuce as a taco shell!), Moroccan Beef or Lamb Wraps (which I adore) Vietnamese Lettuce Wraps with Two Dips (A family and recipe tester favorite! One of the recipes my daughter will specifically request). Chicken and Peach Wraps, and Everyday Lettuce Wraps.
I also find that salad wraps appeal to those younger because you get to play with your food. Small children really enjoy getting their fingers into their food and salad wraps are perfect for that!
3) Let them Pick out the Recipe
I will ask for requests when meal planning from my husband and now I’ve started to ask my 4 year old too. Sometimes it’s easy for me to forget that she has her favorites too. For example, she loves, loves, loves my Simple Carrot Salad (which is not sweet, but savory). She really enjoys the Vietnamese Lettuce Wraps with Two Dips because is has noodles and chicken in it and she loves to dip the wrap into the peanut or honey lime sauce. She likes the Wilted Spinach with Hot Bacon Dressing. And the Fresh Taco Salad is a hit with both my husband and my daughter. By using recipes that she enjoys, I can know that the work I put into making dinner will be rewarded by actually being eaten by all.
4) Set Aside Toppings
But sometimes, I know that she would better enjoy the toppings not in a salad, so I set aside a portion for her to eat plain. For example, I have a Simple Salmon Salad (also in the book) that I make often and she enjoys. But she likes fish a lot, so she prefers to eat the salmon not in the salad. So I set some aside for her (whether it came from the Slow Roasted Salmon Recipe or from a can) and serve up with a small side salad for her. That with a buttered piece of toast, keeps her happy.
5) Keep it Sweet
I’ve found that while I really enjoy a nice tang, that balancing it with a bit of sweet makes a big difference to my little one. Having a salad dressing that is on the sweeter side helps her enjoy salads. For example, my Sweet Onion Poppyseed Dressing is sweet as well as tangy. My daughter’s favorite is my Simple Balsamic Vinaigrette, made with a well aged balsamic (which is sweeter). You can also add a sweet element by adding fruit like fresh peaches, or dried cranberries, or candied nuts to the salad.
All in all, we’ve found that we can all enjoy eating salads together as a family. What about you? Do you have any kid friendly tips?
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What a great list! Perfect for any age.
My only thought is that when kids see family members eating the same healthy things they are, and eating them frequently, it’s not a battle because it becomes the ordinary. It also makes a huge difference when they see family members enjoying it!
Positive attitude always helps. 🙂
Great Ideas. Thank you!
oooh. perfect tips! my struggle is that we have our son in daycare because we both need to work and the food they eat there doesn’t really live up to the criteria we have for healthy eating at home. so things that he used to love (brown rice, sourdough rhye bread, beans, good meats etc., etc.) he won’t touch. fortunately he still has taste for lots of vegetables & whole milk (though they serve the children fat reduced milk in daycare which really annoys me) – but when it comes to protein he has developed a taste for the processed kind like hotdogs (and luckily we can get our hands on good quality ones, – but what they give them in kindergarten – i don’t even think i want to know!)
luckily he still enjoys lots of different vegetables both raw and cooked (he is also crazy about broccoli!) , and he loves natural yoghurt and sauerkraut. he also really likes eggs – but unfortunately won’t eat the yolk (not sure if maybe he is protecting himself as i understand many children don’t tolerate the yolk?)
i have been thinking about giving him a lunchbox, but i also feel that eating is such a social thing and i don’t want to exclude him from the other kids…
anyway, thanks for some useful tips 🙂
These are such good suggestions. Thanks for sharing. My two-year-old loves avocado, apple chunks (peeled) and cherry tomatoes, so those are always a favourite in salads. She’s not so keen on lettuce leaves, and finds carrots a bit too crunchy to eat.
She also loves fish, especially white fish like Gurnurd or Warehou, but she’s been known to eat a bit of salmon, especially raw on sushi.
Love these ideas! Another big helper has been gathering the ingredients from the garden. We were at a chain restaurant with my dad and my son (3 at the time) spoke in a whisper behind his hand, “Um Mom, this broccoli is NOT from our garden. It looks sick”.
My daughter actually loves salad and wishes we had it more often! She LOVES vinegar so I give her a couple of caps worth of organic apple cider vinegar on it and she’ll eat it right up! Even my son likes it well enough not to complain about having it. 🙂 I think it helps that we’ve always told them they had to eat their veggies – and make sure they have plenty of exposure.
My children LOVE taco salads too – my daughter’s really gotten into tomatoes and onions lately, though my son still pretty much likes his with just cheese and meat. 🙂
I made your sweet onion dressing last night and it was delicious. My salad eating child liked it, my non-salad eating children weren’t quite there yet. :> But we’re working on it. Thanks for the tips!
Funny enough, salad is my eight year old’s favorite! I have a lot of experience feeding kids and feeding kids salads, what with ten of them and all, but there is not much to add to your post! You are right on. The only other thing that said eight year old suggests is bacon and dressing made with bacon fat instead of oil.
Bacon makes everything better, doesn’t it!
I agree that the dressing can make a huge difference. My non-salad eating 5-yr-old LOVES your sweet onion poppy seed dressing and eats several servings of salad with it. She turned her nose up at salad a few days ago that had honey mustard dressing (her favorite dressing before eating your recipe!). We eat salad almost every day and my children enjoy their lettuce best with diced apples, raw cheese cubes, and sunflower seeds, with poppy seed dressing, of course!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! Those are great tips!
Great ideas! I just wanted to add that we take things a step further for our 3 year-old. I’ve found that if I take all of the yummy toppings and put them in little piles around her plates or in little bowls that she will eat it all, but if it’s all lumped together she takes one look and is not interested. For some reason little kids tend to dislike the look of lots of ingredients (that they normally like) all mixed together. I even used to do this with soups and stews when she was really little. I would give her a cup of the nourishing broth, then put the chicken and veggies in little piles. Now that she’s almost 4, I don’t have to do that anymore. Need to trick the littles? Deconstruct their salads and soups!
Hmm, my toddler will not touch salad or raw vegetables even though we serve them regularly. She still needs her foods to be very well cooked and soft and I find that she will only eat her vegetables and meats if I cut them up really small (with a pair of kitchen shears) and mix it into her rice, noodles or soup. I guess every child is different! I’m hoping that as she grows older she will be able to eat more salads as our family adores them.
My kids loved it when I occasionally created a sort of salad bar. I prepared each vegetable and topping and put in separate bowls, and they made their own salads. Often they’d help me prepare. They saw it as a special treat. (Lots of dishes to wash, though)
My 4 yr olds aren’t too great with salads except when I separate the salad ingredients out and have them in a picnic platter dish (with lots of sections) instead of a plate and they just love it! They eat dinner like that a couple times a week. Kinda like the above suggestion but without all the washing 🙂
Hi Kimi,
I first wanted to say that I just love your blog so much and it was actually a real inspiration for me, transitioning to a more Weston Price lifestyle. I’ve just started a blog which is focussed on traditional eating and cooking habits, but targeted at young, busy, urban professionals who are probably the WORST for utilising any WPF principles. And possibly for also eating salad! 🙂 SO, although I dont have any little ones I can share some tips for how I get my HUSBAND to eat salad…
Add something sweet – totally agree with this. I LOVE tangy stuff (mustardy vinegar flavours) but for my husband I need to get some decent quality balsamic and maybe add some raisins…
Toasted nuts or seeds! Im not sure how this works for little ones with allergies, but some freshly toasted pumpkin seeds or cashew nuts makes all the difference
Chop finely! Obviously the fact that Ive grown accustomed to chewing with great strands of rocket hanging out of my mouth is not shared….
Regular, but not too often! Now my husband is used to eating salads he actually misses them if we go without! However, Ive learned not to push this too far. Salad is only cool 2 nights in a row and then he needs a break..
Get in the habit of doing something after dinner! If we are just vegging out in front of the TV, eating a heavy curry seems like a great idea. However, if we take the dog for a walk or just do something a little active, he realises how invigorating salads can be!
http://wineandbutter.com/
Emmy xoxo
I’ve found that just cutting up all the veggies and letting them make their own salad works the best for us. I’ll change up what veggies we have but letting them make it seems to really go a long way in getting them to eat it. And it shows that when we go to my MIL’s she puts it all together and they just don’t eat as much salad then.