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Jerk Chicken, rice and peas

Claire Wright

Effort:
Complexity:
Cost:

Serves: 4

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

Jerk chicken:

2 tbsp oil

1 onion, diced

200g chicken (boneless, skinless thigh or breast) or veggie alternative, diced

1 tsp garlic puree or 2 finely sliced garlic cloves (optional)

200g sweet potato, diced (frozen pre-diced sweet potato or squash is fine)

2 carrots, diced

150ml water

1 tsp vinegar

1 tbsp jerk seasoning

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 red pepper, diced

400g tomatoes, chopped (or use 1 400g tin chopped tomatoes)

1 veg stock cube (optional)

1 tbsp tomato puree

Juice of ½ lemon

¼ tsp black pepper

2 tsp cornflour or tapioca starch mixed with 2 tsp water to make a paste

2 spring onions, sliced (optional)

Rice & peas:

1 mug rice (ideally basmati, but you can use others and just check package instructions for how long it takes to cook)

2 mugs water

1 400g tin kidney beans

50ml coconut milk (optional)

100g peas (frozen is fine)

1 veg stock cube (optional)

Veg Portions / Serving: 2.5

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Here’s our recommended recipe, or you can simply adapt your own recipe – just keep the veg chunky and serve with a reminder to the children to Eat Them to Defeat Them and say “Feel the heat veggies!”

Method:

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat and add the diced chicken and onion. Cook for about 5 mins, until the chicken begins to colour. If using veggie alternative, check the instructions on the packet, but most can be added into the pan with the veg later as they cook quickly.

Add the garlic, sweet potato, carrot, and water to the pan and continue to cook until the sweet potato begins to soften, about 10 mins.

Add the vinegar, jerk seasoning, brown sugar, red pepper, tomatoes (and veggie alternative, if using) to the pan, reduce the heat to low, and allow to cook slowly until the sauce begins to thicken, about 5-10 mins. Add the veg stock cube, if using, tomato puree, lemon juice and black pepper to the pan, stir well, then pour in the cornflour paste and stir thoroughly, continuing to cook for 5-10 minutes until it thickens slightly before adding the sliced spring onion, if using.

For the rice and peas, add the rice and water to a saucepan and bring to the boil, then turn down the heat to leave it simmering until the rice is soft and tender and the water is nearly absorbed (check packet instructions to know how long this will be). At this point, add the kidney beans, coconut milk if using, peas and veg stock cube if using, cover the pan and continue to cook for a few more mins until the rice is tender, light and fluffy.

Remove from the heat and serve with the Caribbean Jerk Chicken.

Engaging Kids

Engaging Kids

Kids who engage regularly with veg through veg-themed activities, such as arts and crafts, sensory experiences, growing and cooking are shown to be more likely to eat the veg they engage with. Encouraging kids to engage and play with veg is the handy first step to them developing a good relationship with veg and life-long healthy eating.

Kids in the kitchen

Kids in the kitchen

Have the kids help you measure and weigh ingredients, fill the mug for the rice with rice and water, and stirring things together (show them how to safely stir over the heat and keep a close eye on them). For more tips on cooking with kids check out Kids in the Kitchen on Simply Veg.

Activities

Activities

While getting kids to interact with veggies for real and using their senses to explore them is best, encouraging hands off activities like arts & crafts, puzzles & games or at-home science experiments can be a great start, particularly for those who are fussier eaters or struggle with anything too sensory. Use these veg-themed activities as a stepping stone to interacting with the veg themselves. We have loads of crafty downloads here, puzzles here, and quirky science with veg here.

Sensory

Sensory

Once you feel your child is ready to engage a little more, you can show them how to explore the veg you have on hand with their senses, coming up with playful silly descriptions of how a veg smells, feels, looks, sounds and perhaps even tastes. Find ideas, videos and some simple sensory education session ideas to get you started here.

Serving

Serving

The moments before food is offered can be a perfect opportunity for engagement that can help make it more likely a child will eat it! Giving children a sense of ownership in the meal can make a big difference to their feelings going into it and the pride they take in it. You know your child best, but if you aren’t sure where to start, we have some fun and simple ideas for easy roles you can give them in the serving process over here.

Claire Wright

Editor: After leaving Exeter University with a degree in English Literature, Claire worked in various fields ranging from youth work and charities to publishing, before starting up a food-focused website when her first child was born. After being asked to project manage the publication of Veg Power's Crowdfunder book, Claire came on board as a fully-fledged team member in 2018 to take on the role of Communications Manager, then Editor, looking after Veg Power's website, content, recipes and social media platforms.

addsomeveg.com/

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