Dikshima GuptaEvery parent with a little one knows how crucial it is to have different dishes on the lunch menu to keep their child interested in finishing their lunch. It becomes more challenging, especially when they are a fussy eater.
Here are 7 easy recipes that can be on this week’s menu.
1. French-fries Rolls
Ingredients: French Fries, rotis, green chutney, sliced onions, diced tomatoes, and ketchup.
This is an easy recipe where you have to line the ingredients in the chapatti and make a roll before wrapping it up in tin foil. Spread the chutney and sauce on the roti before adding the fries.
You can serve these with veggies on the side.
2. Spinach Pasta
Ingredients: Boiled pasta, garlic, spinach, tomatoes, oregano, and cheese (as per preference and dietary restrictions)
This is one of those recipes where you hide the green vegetable to make your child eat healthy foods. Start by boiling the pasta and sautéing garlic, spinach, and tomatoes in a pan with oil. Cook the ingredients till they are mush, let them cool a bit, and add them to a blender to make the sauce (we advise you to be safe). Add the sauce back to the pan; add salt and pepper and the pasta water for a runny consistency. Lastly, add pasta and cheese.
You can add cut-up onions and carrots to the lunch box and a slice of toasted bread to go along with the pasta.
3. Kurkuri Bhindi
Ingredients: Bhindi (Okra), besan (chickpea flour), dhania powder (coriander powder), Maggi Masala (any other preferred masala in case you do not have Maggi masala), salt, and haldi (turmeric).
This snack is favoured by kids and adults alike and is easier to prepare than it looks. Slice the okras vertically. Put them in a bowl; add a few drops of water so that the ingredients stick easily. Put a spoonful of besan, 1/4th teaspoon dhania powder and haldi, a packet of Maggi masala, and salt as per taste. Mix them well till the bhindis are coated with the mixture. Fry these in oil and serve with chutney as a snack or with rice/chapatti as a meal.
Curd tastes amazing when served fresh with the meal. While packing for your child’s lunch you can add boiled vegetables or eggs to the box.
4. Popcorn Cauliflower
Ingredients: Cauliflower, besan (chickpea flour), dhania powder (coriander powder), lemon, salt, and haldi (turmeric).
This recipe is very similar to fried okra. You have to follow the same steps of cutting up the cauliflower into smaller pieces, adding it to a bowl, mixing well with all the dry ingredients, and frying it in hot oil. Sprinkle lemon juice on top to enhance the flavours.
Fried cauliflower can be served with ketchup. This snack goes great with khichdi or dal rice as it adds the required crispiness to simple dishes.
5. Masala Idli
Ingredients: Idli, black mustard seeds (Sarson), curry leaves, diced onion, diced carrots, kitchen king masala, sambhar masala, lemon, salt, and green onions.
Whether your child is an Idli fan or not, they will like this one. This recipe is a yummier alternative to simple idli sambhar. Prepare idlis as usual and cut them up into four triangular pieces. To a pan, add oil, black mustard, and curry leaves. Once they are sizzling, add onions and carrots. Sauté the vegetables till they are soft and the onions have turned transparent. Add salt, a bit of kitchen king, and sambhar masala as per your taste. Toss in the cut-up idli pieces and mix till the masala is coated on each piece. Before serving, sprinkle green onions and lemon on top.
These can be served with sambhar or rasam.
6. Rajma Paratha
Ingredients: Boiled Kidney Beans (rajma), whole wheat flour 1 cup, ½ teaspoon cumin powder, ½ teaspoon chilli powder, ½ teaspoon carom seeds, ½ teaspoon saunf, 3 tablespoon coriander leaves, and salt to taste.
Mash boiled kidney beans with whole wheat flour and add all the spices to the bowl. Add the coriander leaves and salt and knead the dough to make chapattis. Keep this aside for 5-10 minutes before rolling into chappatis and cooking in oil. You can check out the step-by-step recipe here.
This recipe gives the nutrition of beans with the ease of rolling a parantha into a roll and packing in your child’s lunch box.
7. Paneer Sandwiches
Ingredients: Paneer, sandwich bread, ketchup, sauce of choice, onion rings, tomato rings, salt, and pepper.
Toast the bread on a pan. Spread the sauce of your choice on each of the slices; add onion rings, and top them up with a thin slice of paneer, and tomatoes. Add salt and pepper as per taste and, viola, you have a paneer sandwich. You can add lettuce to the recipe as well.
These can be packed in the lunch with boiled eggs, ketchup, and French fries.
