Silverbeet and Kale Feta Rolls - Healthy, Happy Lunch boxes

Silverbeet and Kale Feta Rolls

I love packing my kids full of greens.
Right from babies I have got them growing their own in our garden and in pots, greens are just so versatile in cooking and so incredibly jam packed full of nutrients. In face when you look at eating styles and trends there is always one constant in them all!
Eat more green leafy things!!

Paleo, Vegan, Raw, Low Carb, Michelle Bridges 12 week boot camps they all seem to agree green leafy things are especially good for humans!
So as a mum I have always given my two girls lots of greens and found so many delicious and clever ways to feed them to them! Because, lets face it too not too many toddlers are going to eat a pile of lightly steemed spinach quite joyously?

My little Violet as a wee thing with a silverbeet she helped grow that was not so wee!

One of my kids FAVE ways to get a big greens fix and a recipe that I LOVE to make for LUNCHBOXES is this super easy and cheap to make,

Silverbeet and Kale Feta Rolls.
Why Kale?
I know it has become trendy of late and sometimes you might think oh kale this and kale that....BUT it is for a very good reason!
Kale is a sensational power vegetable and was in fact a very popular vegetable in the middle ages and is a popular food source in many, many parts of the world. During World War II it was also in the Dig for Victory initiative in the UK because of its nutrient content, where everyone was encouraged to grow it in there gardens.
Kale is extremely good for you and is a source of beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin A, vitamin C, magnesium, potassium, copper, vitamin B6, and rich in calcium and according to *Mind, Body Green has more iron per calorie than beef.
It is also a source of two carotenoids, lutein and zeaxanthin and has other properties which are said to have anti cancer and DNA repair in cells properties.and the combination with fresh basil and a great Parmesan and feta is beautiful.
Kale (Brassica Oleracea) is a green leafy vegetable considered to be one of the highest in nutrients with many health benefits including it is said, to have anti – cancer effects so it is well worth tracking down or growing your own.
It is also a "cousin" to other nutrient rich veggie super heros like broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, savoy, collard.
There are many varieties available now including beautiful pruprle leafed types and it is also excellent in things like juicing, green smoothies, all kinds of fresh salads, spinach and kale cheesey scrambled eggs and often made into kale “chips”.
I also put it fresh, shredded very finely in my kids salad wraps, coleslaw.
(Note; if you have diagnosed thyroid issues always lightly cook it first before eating - even in smoothies, just steam then cool and freeze in portions, check with your naturopath for more information.)

It is also extremely EASY to grow!
Look out for organic seeds or seedlings and grow it in a really nice sunny spot (at least 6 hours), in good compost rich soil with plenty of organic matter and good drainage. Water deeply once established to promote a healthy root system and feed with diluted seasol once a week as a baby and then every 2 weeks once established. Harvest as a whole plant or just the leaves you need as you need them.
Grow them amongst marigolds, chives, spring onions, sage, thyme for companion planting.
If your worried you will plant and "forget" and they will die, plant a pot near your front door, amongst your flowers, somewhere were you will see them everyday and remember to water them.
I know for me I love taking 5 minutes of peace in the garden of an afternoon or early morning to have a cup of tea and water, it is actually very relaxing!

Grow things and get the kids growing things from babies

Silverbeet and Kale Feta Rolls Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh silverbeet finely chopped and firmly packed in (or 1 pkt frozen spinach, thawed and drained well will also work fine)
• 1 cup fresh kale, washed and finely chopped. (You can find in Coles and Woolies now or farmers markets and places like Jeffers market on the Sunshine Coast.)
• 3/4 of a 250g pkt feta cheese. (You can use less if you find feta too salty for your palate or more see notes).
• ¾ cup grated cheese.
• 2 sheets puff pastry ( I use butter puff pastry or wholegrain when I can find it and sometimes gluten free puff pastry)

Method

• Pre heat oven to approximately 180`c.
• Combine spinach, kale, feta and grated cheese together.
• Semi defrost pastry sheets.
• Cut each pastry sheets in half to make two long rectangle.
• Line each one down one side with a long strip of the mixture. 
• Pinch the two sides of pastry together right along both sides to make it an enclosed ‘parcel’ or roll over on to itself to make a roll shape.
• Chop up into desired sizing rolls.
• Brush top of pastry with milk.
• Bake them in the oven on baking paper until golden and pastry is visibly cooked.
• Serve hot with fresh salad

Notes

• For a more ‘adult’ version you can add lightly sautéed onion, chilli or spring onion.
• Perfect for school lunch boxes.
• Freeze rolls before cooking for ready to go meals and lunches
• Adjust the amount of feta to you and your kids taste buds. Use a lot less if you generally find it too salty and more if you like a strong feta flavour. I find in general kids do not like a too strong feta flavour but rather just a hint of feta so I often will use 3/4 of a packet, depending on the amount of greens. I would suggest the first few time you make the recipe to tweak to make it with a 3/4 packet and then tweak if needed the next time. I prefer to use a Australian hard feta and just crumble it.

Toddler Tips

• Make them half the size again so they are handy toddler sized sausage rolls.
• Serve with a toddler friendly salad of things like cheese cubes, avocado cubes, cherry tomatoes, hard boiled eggs, capsicum slices and carrot sticks.

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>>> HEALTHY, HAPPY LUNCHBOXES
Happy Cooking!

Bek xoxo

Recipe and writing (c)RebeccaMugridge2012

Silverbeet & Kale Canneloni

Silverbeet & Kale Cannelloni 

This is one of our family FAVOURITES!!

This recipe both my own kids love and have grown up eating, it is right up there with spaghetti  bolognaise and homemade pizza as an all time favourite meal and one we cook together as it is a great kids in the kitchen meal, they can even harvest the greens for it too as i alwasy try and have plenty of silverbeet, so they are really seeing food from garden to kitchen to plate.
This can also be made ahead and frozen for a ready-made dinner. Perfect for entertaining or just a delicious family meal. Meal planning friendly. Serves 6.

Ingredients
• 1 x 500gm tub Ricotta Cheese
• 1 box gluten free Cannelloni Shells
• 1 big bunch silverbeet leaves, washed and very finely chopped (or spinach)
• 1 cup of fresh kale, washed and finely chopped (around 4 large leaves or so)
• 1 large jar Tomato Pasta Sauce (or 2 cups homemade tomato pasta sauce)
• ¼ cup grated Cheddar Cheese and 1 clove garlic very finely chopped (optional)
• Baking Dish

Method
• Preheat oven to 180’c.
• Wilt the silverbeet and kale together slightly in a saucepan on a low heat with a tablespoon of water for a few seconds only.
• Remove from saucepan, drain and squeeze all excess water out
• Mix together spinach, kale, garlic and ricotta cheese in a bowl.
• In a deep baking dish pour a thin layer of the tomato pasta sauce to make a ‘bed’ for the cannelloni shells to lay on.
• Stuff each cannelloni shell with the spinach mixture and arrange so they are touching completely filling the baking dish.
• Pour a layer of tomato mixture over the top, use a butter knife to let the sauce run down between the shells.
• Top with the grated cheese.
• Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until tubes are cooked through and it is nicely browned on top.
• Serve hot with a fresh, leafy green salad.

Notes
• This is a meal that the whole family and even fussy eaters will enjoy.
• A delicious and cheap to make recipe, even more so if you grow your own spinach and kale.
• Make a double batch so you can freeze one portion for another night.
• Halve the quantities for a smaller family meal serving size or freeze leftovers for another night.
• A popular dish for dinner parties.
• You could optionally add garlic and/or 1 teaspoon nutmeg to the mixture.
• You can use defrosted, frozen spinach
or silver-beet in place of the spinach leaves.
 Just ensure all is wilted and excess water removed


Toddler Tip
• This is a great dish for when little ones are getting into solids that are also the family meal. Cut up into really small pieces.
• It can be messy but kids love this, make their servings nice and saucy.
• A great recipe to make with the kids, they will love mixing and stuffing all the tubes.

I use kale, spinach and sillverbeet (pictured with my youngest here) in so much of my cooking, I literally put them in almost anything! Full of nutrients and so very easy to grow organically at home.
Baby spinach is just so delightful and silverbeet is almost a fail

safe to grow.
Anyone really can grow it, if your not a gardener, this is one veggie I really urge you to have a go at. It's fast growing, forgiving, attractive so you even plant in amongst established gardens and can be used in so much cooking and things like juicing.

·        

Kale (Brassica Oleracea)
As modeled here by Mr Ryan Gosling -
Image Source is a green leafy vegetable considered to be one of the highest in nutrients with many health benefits including
it is said, having anti – cancer effects so it is well
worth tracking down or growing your own.
It is very easy to grow and is an attractive green (and sometimes purple or even black depending on the variety) leafy plant.
Throw some in your flower beds for edible foliage contrast too!
Simply sew seed straight into prepared garden beds
with good drainage, in the full sun as you would cabbage. It is a quick crop making it a great vegetable to grow with kids and even on sunny balconies, in tubs and large pots. It is pretty hardy and not too bad with garden pests, though like us caterpillars and grasshoppers also appreciate its healthy lush leaves too!
There are many varieties available and it is also excellent in juicing and often made into kale “chips”.

Not a new thing. kale was in fact a very popular vegetable in the middle ages it was considered the most widely eaten vegetable in Europe. It also has ancestry in Russia and Greece and there is even a related plant that is very similar used in Chinese cooking called kale in English Brassica oleracea.While recently becoming a popular superfood in the US and Australia in recent times it is a popular food source in many parts of the world and has been for a long time. During World War II it was also in the Dig for Victory campaign  in the UK because of its nutrient content.

This recipe has been published in Holistic Bliss magazine and I also re-created it with local cheeses, styled and photographed it for client Maleny IGA Supermarket to use on their
Local Product Local Recipe - recipe card series I did for them.
Contact me for commercial ventures and proposals. 

Recipe and photography (c)RebeccaMugridge2013