After running about outside all day in summer, it seems the only time I hear from my kids is when they’re hungry.
Proper ‘hangry’, that mix between cranky and hungry that needs to be sated immediately!
Their heads are straight in the pantry and their backsides are hanging out of the fridge. In their attempt to forage for food, my little lady mulls over her choices, ‘…what would I like?’
I then have a moment of deja-vu as I hear my mother come out of my mouth, ‘close the fridge before you let all the cold out!’
To tide them over while prepping their lunch, cherry tomatoes are one of my go to snack options. Not just for the kids either, I’m a bit like Nigella Lawson, without the luscious curves, millions of dollars or culinary prowess, I do like to hoe into them straight from the pack.
And I’m going to level with you here, I’m a bit of a disaster in the kitchen, knowing they’re full of the good stuff I like to use them in some super easy, light and healthy summer recipes that the kids love to eat.
1) Caprese Caterpillar
Arrange on a bed of your favourite greens, alternate cherry tomatoes, baby bocconcini balls and pop a sweet little smiley face on the end using some sliced black olive and currants for the eyes. An important nutritional source, tomatoes are laden with antioxidants such as lycopene. Antioxidants work their magic by neutralising the cell-damaging free radicals in our body produced by chemicals, pollution, smoke, alcohol and the sun. Many studies suggest the antioxidant lycopene can help prevent a range of diseases such as cancers, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and depression.
2) Rainbow Salad
Kids love colour! Whip up this easy rainbow salad with purple cabbage, cucumber, yellow capsicum, carrot and top with cherry tomatoes. While we’ve done ours in a mason jar, I think most kids would love to help in the kitchen arranging a spectacular rainbow on a big plate with the crowning glory of cherry tomatoes! Other antioxidants found in tomatoes are the vitamins A, C, E, K, B vitamins and beta carotene, which all combine to make tomatoes a true superfood! Munching on these tasty morsels will give you a burst of vitamin fuelled energy as tomatoes contain B vitamins, which assist carbohydrates to provide energy, healthy skin and a vibrant nervous system.
3) Ladybird Crackers
How can you resist the cute factor of these snacks? Sweet ladybirds made by spreading cream cheese on an oat cracker base, cutting your tomatoes into quarters and decorating the segments with currants for spots and a black olive for the head. Cherry tomatoes are a good source of dietary fibre and also potassium, which helps cells and nerves provide fuel for muscle tissue. They’ll help with faster recovery, featuring Vitamin E, tomatoes help to transport oxygen in the blood and preserve other vitamins against oxidation loss so that your cells are repaired and renewed quickly.
4) Pirate Swords
Alternating halved cherry tomatoes and cheese squares on skewers make for great pirate swords. Better yet, thread them onto edible things like pretzel twigs or cheese sticks. Tomatoes contain a decent amount Vitamin K and some calcium, which are essential nutrients in strengthening bones and performing minor repairs on bones and bone tissue
5) Cherry Tomato Pizza
Even though I’m a disaster in the kitchen, a not-quite-nigella, I still like to make sure my kids have healthy and fresh options, free of the additives and preservatives that often occur in manufactured foods. So let me introduce to you this quick and easy summer appetiser — for the kids to eat while you’re cooking the real deal! Just lay out a sheet of the pastry, top it with cheese, some slices of tomatoes cut on the side and placed facing up and then bake. Now that’s one pizzarefic masterpiece.
What’s your favourite tomato snack?
