I'm throwing it back on MHE today to when my oldest son was only 15 months old (now he's almost 4). This means my pictures are old school too, so bear with me.
Just this week a friend messaged me about this recipe because they couldn't find it on my new site. Well, I am taking care of that right now! It's still amazing to me that my recipes just might be making it in the homes and meals of people I care about.
So. Stinkin. Cool.
To those of you new to me, MHE, or my recipes, I hope perhaps this one can help you mamas and dadas out there with little toddlers who love to throw food... on the floor. Enjoy!
{This post originally appeared on my former website in October 2012.}
Jackson is now almost 15 months and showing his opinion about many things, one being vegetables. He's just not eating them like he was 4 months ago, especially if they are crunchy. (He is awesome, however, at tossing them on the floor for the dog to eat.)
I needed to come up with something creative to get some veggies in him and I needed it fast. My inspiration for this recipe was to create a veggie something that Jackson could feed himself. Using tofu as a base is perfect because you can add anything to it and contributes protein. I also wanted something that would freeze well to make future lunches a snap.
My answer for all these needs??
Crunchy Veggie Bites
I centered the flavors around pizza, because I'm pretty sure that's a universally liked flavor profile. Then I gathered what veggies I could find in my fridge that could work. I think you could use a wide variety of veggies so be resourceful when you make these. Make sure to save some of the pizza sauce too for dipping.
I love that these turned in to a nugget "alternative". Tofu provides an excellent source of plant based protein and makes this a complete meal - 3 nutrients: protein, carbohydrate and vegetables.
So, you may be wondering what Jackson thought of them. Drum roll please.....
He loved them! In fact, he keep reaching for more. My little guy must have downed about 5 or 6 of these nuggets. Mission accomplished!
Give these nutrition-packed bites a try with your little guys (or gals), or yourself. There are so many ways to enjoy these.
Recipe
Kid Friendly Crunchy Veggie Bites
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 24 -36 1x
Description
These tasty nuggets are stuffed with veggies and familiar flavors kids and adults are both sure to enjoy.
Ingredients
- 12 oz extra firm silken tofu (drained)
- ½ medium yellow onion (grated)
- 1 carrot (grated)
- 1 small yellow squash (grated)
- 2 garlic cloves (minced)
- 2 large kale leaves (finely chopped (think confetti) - can substitute 1 cup loosely packed spinach)
- 1 ½ cups pizza sauce (from a jar)
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 ½ cup quick oats
- ¾ cup part-skim mozzarella cheese (shredded )
- 1 egg (beaten)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons pepper
- 2 cups panko bread crumbs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, mash the tofu using a potato masher until crumbly.
- Gently squeeze out extra liquid from onion, carrots, and squash. Add onion, carrot, squash, kale, garlic, pizza sauce, tomato paste, oats, cheese, egg and salt and pepper to tofu and stir to combine thoroughly.
- Pour bread crumbs in a shallow dish. Scoop out about 2 tablespoon of tofu mix (I used a large cookie scoop) and roll into a ball. Roll ball in panko bread crumbs to coat. Place on baking sheet. Repeat with rest of tofu mixture.
- Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest for a few minutes. Serve immediately or cool completely and freeze.
Notes
To grate the vegetables, I recommend using a box grater. You can also get fancy (i.e. make it easy on yourself) and use the grating blade in your food processor.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Entree
