This week we were gifted with the most gorgeous, fresh tomatoes from Sophia’s family garden, so we made salsa. It was very well received and I was actually a bit surprised. Tomatoes are not always a bit hit with kids, and the onion/eye watering issue is always a deterrent. And these onions were powerful! You could smell them outside the room! Almost everyone tried the salsa with chips and all the reviews were great! This fit in with our theme of fiber and we were able to talk about the lack of protein and fats. There is no real recipe as I just make salsa until it looks right. I’ll give it my best shot…
Ingredients
The freshest tomatoes (Try out the local farmers market or produce stand. It is rare that the grocery store has tomatoes that are gorgeous enough to make homemade salsa!) Roughly 4-5 large ones
Onions (I use sweet onions) 1 large one
Limes, about 2-3
Cilantro, 1 whole bunch
Peppers (I usually use jalapeños but since they are often too spicy for a lot of children, I chose to use canned, diced green chilis instead…maybe about 1-2 small cans? I actually think this addition is one of the reasons they liked it so much. If you want to give your child extra knife skills practice, and why wouldn’t you?, choose the whole, canned green chilis. They’re also less expensive than the diced.)
Salt, garlic powder, cumin, to taste
Help your child chop up tomatoes, onions, cilantro. Add cans of green chilis.
Squeeze lime juice into the mixture.
Add spice to taste. I usually use quite a bit of cumin and garlic powder.
Enjoy!
We also roasted cauliflower and broccoli. We’ll do Brussels sprouts next week with the same approach:
Starting on the bottom, slice the cauliflower (or broccoli) into flat pieces. They’ll be about the size of your hand. You want as much exposure to the baking pan as possible. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle salt. Put into a hot oven, about 400-425 degrees. Flip them after about 15-20 minutes. Take out when the veggies are golden brown and look caramelized. Enjoy!
Brussels sprouts are the same except I slice them only in half and repeat as above. Roasted Brussels Sprouts are actually my all time favorite food…I know, I’m weird. And but the way, if you’ve only eaten them boiled, please give it a try. I hated Brussels sprouts because I’d only ever had them boiled. Who did this to me? I’ve blocked out the soggy, mushy experience and perpetrator….lucky them!