Make a Kid-Friendly Salad Greens Recipe With Your Child

Kids Won’t eat Your Salad Greens Recipe? Try a “Little Chef” one

Our kid-friendly little chef salad

This kid-friendly salad greens recipe, aptly named by son #2 as “Little Chef Salad” is good enough for a toddler to eat. Inspired by Remy, our household is slowly changing our ways. I often joke that a year ago we could have been considered the “Mc Talty” family for all the times we would frequent McDonalds. My then two year old was so familiar with the place that he felt compelled to point it out whenever we passed one in our travels. We’ve made a complete turn around since then, thanks in large part to our oldest son’s diagnosis of a chronic tic disorder and allergies to gluten and corn. We since eliminated these three foods from our kitchen, and it has made all the difference for him in his recovery.

This salad greens recipe is unique. What makes it special? It is not so much about the ingredients as it is about the preparation. You see, this Little Chef salad greens recipe is literally a salad made by my little chef, age 3, a former chicken nugget man turned foodie, a fella not diagnosed, but gluten free through association, and loving it.

Even toddlers can make a salad greens recipe.

I learned a very powerful lesson this month, thanks in large part to our ingenious decision to watch Ratatouille. I learned that with a little prompting, a lot of patience, and some open mindedness, Chef Gusteau’s famous line, “Anyone Can Cook” is absolutely true. And boy #2 proved that. This pint-sized eager eater, is a curious and determined three-year-old boy. His eagerness in the kitchen has worked wonders on his appetite in the dining room. Any parent struggling to get their preschooler to eat their vegetables must see this movie and take it into the kitchen afterwards. It got my little guy eating raw spinach with his own creative salad greens recipe. We skipped using unhealthy bottled dressing from the store too. And the boy ate it with a smile on his face no less!

Ingredients:

2 cups of mixed salad greens lettuce (we got the kind with red cabbage and carrot slivers)

1 cup spinach

6 slices of cooked bacon

2 large McIntosh Apples (It is very important that you use sweet, ripe apples, as they are the main flavor in the salad)

1 lemon (or orange, or lime)- This is the salad ‘dressing’ that helps to keep the apples from browning

Directions:

Take one cup of the mixed lettuce and chop it in a mini food processor. Empty it into a large bowl and add another cup of mixed lettuce. Chop the spinach in the mini food processor and add that to the bowl. Next, peel two large apples, core and chop them. (Little Chef did a great job peeling, big chef used the knife.) Place the bacon into the mini food processor and pulse until it is chopped into large pieces. Add that to your salad and toss. Finally, slice the tip off of your lemon and using a strainer, squeeze the juice out onto the salad. Toss again, and serve to your guests.

Here's boy #2 enjoying his dish

NOTE: The bacon and apples were boy #2′s chosen ingredients for our kid-friendly salad greens recipe. Your little chef can use any of his or her favorites in his/or her salad:

• grilled chicken
• nuts
• raisins
• sliced grapes

Anything goes, as long as the little chef is happy and willing to eat their masterpiece when they are done!