How I got my son eating lettuce

My son is generally a reluctant salad eater.  He will eat coleslaw, occasionally some cucumber but anything leafy is a flat refusal on the salad front.

This got me thinking... what if I chop it smaller?  What I often say to people with fussy kids is to try cutting up the food or serving it in a different way.  I should say here, all parents think their kids are fussy sometimes and they'd be right.  All kids at least go through a fussy stage or have something they flat refuse.

So this was the outcome.  A few lettuce leaves, some cucumber, raw peas... mix this up how you like and you could even add some chopped apple if your child isn't much of a fan of savoury food.  Radish might be nice, as would grated broccoli stem (might sound odd but it tastes cabbagey).

Chopped salad - makes at least 2 portions as a side dish

Ingredients

1/2 a Carrot, peeled
A handful of mixed salad leaves, the crisper the better
60g, 2oz Cucumber
A few raw peas (miss out or substitute for chopped sugar snap peas if out of season)
45g, 1.5oz Frozen sweetcorn
2 tbsp Mayonnaise (use commercial mayonnaise if feeding to under 12 months as it's pasteurised)
A squeeze of lemon juice

Method

Grate the carrot and put into a bowl.  Chop the lettuce up finely, less than 1cm / scant 1/2 inch if you can

Finely dice the cucumber and pod the peas.

Cook the sweetcorn in boiling water then cool immediately using cold water and drain.

Mix the carrot, lettuce, cucumber, peas, sweetcorn, mayonnaise and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Serve with a sandwich or alongside some sausages or barbecued meat.