3 Recipes with Tomatoes for Children
At mealtimes, many parents despair because their children don’t want to eat fruits, vegetables or salads. Faced with this common problem, we must look for options that allow us to introduce certain foods in a different and tasty way. That’s why today we’re going to bring you three delicious recipes with tomatoes for children.
With the right presentation, you’ll be able to grab your children’s attention and imagination, and encourage them to try something new. Little by little, they’ll adapt and appreciate the benefits offered by the humble tomato. As time goes on, they may even like it so much that they’ll want to eat it every day.
The health benefits of tomatoes
Like all fruits and vegetables – and here we have the controversy about which group they belong to – tomatoes provide vitamins A and D. They also have many minerals such as iron, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, potassium, and sodium. All of these are very important for children to grow and develop correctly and in every way.
Another advantage is that tomatoes are ideal for preventing excess weight gain and obesity in children, since they contain 90% water. As a result, they’re very low in calories. They also have a good percentage of fiber, which is excellent for combating constipation.
In addition to this, their high phosphorous content helps the formation of bones and teeth, and their high content of potassium contributes to nerve and muscle transmission.
Nutritious and delicious recipes with tomatoes for children
Now that we know the many benefits of this famous vegetable, we can give free rein to our culinary imagination with these delicious recipes with tomatoes for children:
1. Cream of tomato soup
Ingredients
- 2 lbs of tomatoes
- 1 medium potato
- 1 small carrot
- 2 onions
- 4 chard leaves
- 2 cups of water or chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- Salt to taste
Preparation
In the first of our recipes with tomatoes for children, we have a great cream of tomato soup for you.
- Remove the skin from the tomatoes and chop them into small pieces.
- Then wash the potato, carrots and Swiss chard, and peel them.
- After that, cut the onion into small cubes.
- Take half of the chopped onion and put it in a pot, with a tablespoon of olive oil.
- When it’s soft, add the chopped potato, carrot, and chard and stir. Then add the water or the broth and once they’re soft, remove them from the heat.
- In another pot, place the rest of the chopped onion with the other spoonful of olive oil. Once they’re lightly cooked – almost see-through – add the chopped tomatoes and let them cook over a low heat for 20 minutes.
- After that, add the broth with the vegetables to the tomatoes and onions that have been cooked in the previous step and let them cook for another 10 minutes.
- Blend and season to taste.
2. Rice with tomato for young children
Ingredients
- 1 cup of white rice
- 1/2 red tomato
- Olive oil
- Salt to taste
- Basil or oregano powder
Preparation
- In a saucepan, pour two cups of water for each one of rice and simmer, until it has a soft texture.
- Serve the rice in a deep soup bowl.
- Then separate the skin from the tomatoes and grate over the hot rice. If desired, the seeds can be removed.
- Add a tablespoon of oil, salt and spices
- Mix together and season to taste.
3. Cherry tomato skewers with cream of milk and cheese
Ingredients
- 12 Cherry tomatoes
- 4 oz of milk cream
- 4 oz of cheese (of your choice)
- Oregano powder
- Parsley, finely chopped
- Black pepper
- Olive oil
- Brochette sticks
Tomatoes have many minerals such as iron, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, potassium, and sodium; all of these are very important for our children’s proper development and growth.
Preparation
- Wash and remove the skin of the cherry tomatoes. Then cut off the top, so that a kind of lid is obtained, and remove the pulp from the vegetable carefully.
- Mix the cream with the oregano, the parsley and a pinch of pepper, until you get a creamy paste.
- Fill the inside of the cherry tomatoes with this mixture.
- Skewer the stuffed tomatoes on to the sticks and then gently pierce the tomato “cap” we mentioned earlier, adding it to the skewer. Be careful not to apply too much pressure
- Cut cubes of cheese and place them on top of the tomatoes on the skewers.
- Eat and enjoy.
With these delicious recipes with tomatoes for children, this healthy ingredient can be incorporated easily into your little one’s menu. It’ll make family mealtimes so much more enjoyable as you eat and share special moments together.
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- Ming Cheng H., Koutsidis G., Lodge JK., Ashor A., et al., Tomato and lycopene supplementation and cardiovascular risk factors: a systematic review and meta analysis. Atherosclerosis, 2017. 257: 100-108.
- Jiang LN., Liu YB., Li BH., Lycopene exerts anti inflammatory effect to inhibit prostate cancer progression. Asian J Androl, 2018. 21 (1): 80-85.
