You are what you eat is a phrase that sometimes gets teenagers to understand the importance of good nutrition. Or
you could just sneak in a few stealthy, healthy ingredients, writes DOMINI KEMP

THERE’S ONE DISH that’s always in demand by every kid and teen I come across – pasta pesto. It drives me batty that kids would quite happily live on pasta for every meal, although I totally get it that there are worse things they could be shouting for. But you’re trying to ram the message home that it’s all about moderation and they need a little variation, and to watch their protein and, more importantly, their fruit and vegetable intake.

With little kids, it’s easier to get slices of fruit, chopped-up tomatoes and bits of broccoli, along with bananas or yoghurt, into them. But for teens, I find it can be tricky. The urge to skip lunch and have a chocolate bar instead is always tugging at their tummies, and very few of them want to bring lunch to school.

I sometimes hear apocryphal stories about what they’ve all discovered: stories such as avocados are really fattening, or a chocolate bar has less calories than a sandwich. And my other favourite: a packet of crisps has more vitamin C than an apple. A tiny percentage of what they’re saying may be correct, but it’s a disingenuous statement at best. Just because crisps have high levels of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) does not mean that eating a bag of crisps is better for you than an apple. They happily wash down these thoughts with a fizzy drink.

Sometimes it doesn’t seem to sink in that the reason teens have spots and get moody and tired in the afternoons isn’t all about hormones. As grown-ups, we know that bingeing on coffee and chocolate to get over mid-morning or mid-afternoon energy lows is a vicious circle that ends up leaving us in a slump.

Good nutrition is about eating little and often, everything in moderation, and making sure you eat plenty of fresh and unprocessed food. This isn’t always possible in school canteens and local convenience stores. But I do find that the “beauty” argument seems to hold more sway over teenage girls, in that in a lot of cases what you eat reflects clearly on your skin. Fruit and vegetables seem a lot more attractive when appealing to the mirror-mirror-on-the-wall-type antics they have with themselves. Maybe kids interested in sports can be persuaded to eat better. I don’t know for sure. But what I have learnt over the years is to make the things they do like, filled with things I like.

One tip, and one that not all of them pick up on, is to put some red lentils into boiling water for about 20 minutes before adding pasta. Say a third red lentils to pasta. What happens is the lentils go quite soft and end up behaving like a sort of sauce around the pasta. When I drain it, I add a good splash of olive oil and at this stage either follow the recipe below, or add bits of chopped up cooked broccoli, carrots, peas, and some grated cheddar. This makes a really nice homey supper.

Wholewheat pasta can sometimes be disguised by a really good dollop of pesto, a good knob of butter and some Parmesan. And if you can get them interested in any sort of soups, I find they are a great thing to give them as soon as they arrive home from school. It takes the edge off hunger and avoids yet another demand for foods that are going to cause slumps in concentration when homework begins.

Half an avocado, especially with a spoonful of really nice vinaigrette, is something that has finally been embraced by my eldest, after years of begging on my part. As is a tin of drained chickpeas whizzed with lemon juice, a splash of olive oil and maybe some tahini, crushed garlic and salt and pepper. Carrots sticks, celery or some toasted pita bread are all good accompaniments to this. Things like this promise better moods, as well as gorgeous skin.

PASTA PESTO WITH SPINACH AND PEAS

You may want to start with less spinach and build up from there. This makes loads, enough for at least six lunches

Ingredients

1 pack frozen spinach (approx 450g)

4 tbsp pesto

Juice of one lemon

2 tbsps mayonnaise

Approximately 50ml olive oil

Salt and pepper

500g dried pasta

200g peas

Handful pine nuts

Method

Let the spinach thaw out and drain it in a colander. When it has thawed, squeeze out excess moisture or even better, squeeze dry in a tea-towel. Mix it in a food processor along with the pesto, lemon juice, mayonnaise and a splash of olive oil. You can also add some raw garlic. Set the sauce aside until the pasta is ready.

Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling water for the time recommended on the pack and then drain it. Give it a very brief rinse with some cold water, but don’t let it get too chilly. Put it back in the hot saucepan, add the olive oil and peas and the residual heat will thaw them enough to cook them. Season well. Mix in the pesto sauce and adjust the seasoning.

Serve, or store for a couple of days in the fridge. You can lightly toast the pine nuts in an oven at about 160 degrees until they take on a rich golden colour and sprinkle them on top for extra crunch. Watch them like a hawk, though, as they burn easily.

LEEK AND GREEN PEA SPLIT SOUP

This is based on a recipe from the Cornucopia vegetarian cook book. Serves six to eight

Ingredients

Good splash olive oil

4 large leeks

1 large onion

2 large carrots

2 sticks celery, including the leaves

4 cloves garlic

200g green split peas

1 vegetable stock cube

2 litres water

big bunch dill

Method

Heat up a good glug of olive oil in a large saucepan. Chop the leeks and use as much of the green part as possible as this is where all the goodness is. Peel and roughly chop the onion and carrots. Chop the celery and chuck all three into the saucepan and very gently heat with the lid on. Do this for about five to 10 minutes, occasionally adding a little splash of water if you think it’s starting to burn. You want to sweat the vegetables as supposed to browning them or getting any colour on them. Add the garlic, split peas and the stock cube and water. Season well and, keeping the lid on, simmer for about 40 minutes, until the vegetables and split peas are soft. Blend using a soup gun and then add the dill and blend again. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Once cool, this can be kept in the fridge and re-heated as required for a few days.