Jane Clarke, leading nutritionist and mum to Maya, shares her favourite recipes for boosting your child’s omega-3 intake.
Omega-3 oils are great for healthier hearts - they’re really good nutrients to include in your family food. So often we assume that little ones won’t like strong flavours, but there isn’t any reason why, from the age of about seven months, they can’t be introduced to some oily fish. Although herrings aren’t everyone’s favourite, the other omega-3-rich fish – salmon, fresh tuna, mackerel and sardines – can be turned into delicious dishes, like my smoked mackerel pâté. There are currently no guidelines on portion sizes for children but by the time your toddler is three, I recommend girls should be having a couple of 80g portions of oily fish a week (they shouldn’t have more than this, as there are concerns about the build-up of toxins in the body) and boys can have up to four portions (of these, a max of two should be tuna. Don’t feed shark, marlin or swordfish to children as there are concerns over mercury levels). Omega-3 in vegetarian foods is different to that found in oily fish and research suggests that the body can’t break it down as efficiently. However, if your little one isn’t into fish, walnuts are a source of omega-3. Unless you have a nut allergy, or a family history of allergies such as eczema (in which case, discuss incorporating some nuts into your little one’s diet with your doctor), have the confidence to add walnuts – along with ground seeds such as hemp, sunflower, and pumpkin seeds – to your child’s diet. These ingredients can be found in my banana and walnut loaf and my fruity nut bars. All recipes are suitable for children of two years upwards.
Bramley apple and walnut loaf cake
Spread with butter or olive-oil spread for a really tasty afternoon treat. Or serve warm with some sliced banana and a little custard
or natural yogurt for a delicious dessert.
MAKES ONE LARGE CAKE
PREP TIME: 20 MINUTES
COOK TIME: 11⁄4-11⁄2 HOURS
2 medium bananas
2 Bramley apples
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 rounded tsp baking powder
110g plain white flour
110g wholemeal flour
Grated zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon
110g softened butter, cut into cubes
175g soft, dark brown sugar
2 large Lion mark free-range or organic
Eggs, lightly beaten
100g dried ready-to-eat figs, chopped
50g Medjool dates, stoned and chopped
175g walnut pieces, roughly chopped
- Butter a 900g loaf tin and line the base and ends with strips of baking parchment. Preheat the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas 4.
- Peel the bananas and put into a bowl, then mash them to a purée with a fork. Grate the apples into the bowl and mix.
- Put the cinnamon and baking powder into a mixing bowl and sieve both the flours on top, finally tipping in the bran that’s left over in the sieve. Add the remaining ingredients, apart from the dried fruit and walnuts, and mix together thoroughly using an electric hand whisk. When the mixture is smooth, add the fruit and walnuts and stir through.
- Pop the mixture into the prepared loaf tin, spread level and bake in the middle of the preheated oven for 11⁄4–11⁄2 hours, or until a skewer inserted into the loaf comes out clean. Allow to cool before slicing. Keep for a week in a tupperware container.
Jane’s tip
These ingredients make a good-sized loaf. If you want something smaller then halve the ingredients, use a smaller loaf tin, and cook for around 45-60 minutes. Or make the full loaf but freeze half and simply defrost when you’re ready to use it.
Jacket potatoes stuffed with creamy smoked mackerel pâté
These tasty potatoes make a satisfying meal for you and the kids.
THIS MAKES ENOUGH PÂTÉ TO STUFF 3 OR
4 MEDIUM-SIZED POTATOES (WITH A LITTLE
LEFT OVER FOR ANOTHER TEA)
PREP TIME: 15 MINUTES
COOK TIME: 11⁄2-2 HOURS
3 or 4 medium-sized (125g) Desirée or other good baking potatoes
Olive, rape or hemp oil, for rubbing
200g smoked mackerel fillets (the non-peppery ones), skin removed
200g ricotta cheese
Juice from half a lemon
2 tbsp natural yogurt
freshly ground black pepper
Butter, cucumber slices, chunks of carrot and cherry tomatoes – all to serve
- Preheat the oven to 190°C, fan 170°C, gas 5. Wash the potatoes well, remove any little blemishes and dry them thoroughly. Prick their skins a few times with a fork and then rub the skins with a little olive, rape or hemp oil – just a dash on a piece of kitchen roll – to crisp up the skin. (You may be surprised to see me using oil, but my view is that if you’re going to eat a jacket potato – and they’re a great, cheap way to serve potatoes, especially for children, who love them – you want it to be crispy-skinned).
- Put the potatoes straight onto the oven shelf and bake them for approximately 11⁄2-2 hours, or until the skins are really crisp.
- Meanwhile, make the pâté by simply putting the mackerel, ricotta, lemon juice and yogurt into a food processor, seasoning with a sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper and whizzing together until smooth.
- When the potatoes are cooked, little hands are washed and you’re ready to eat (eat the potatoes as soon as possible after taking them out of the oven, as they lose their crispness the longer you leave them), cut each one in half lengthways and top with a knob of butter and a good dollop of the mackerel pâté. They’re delicious with some cucumber slices, chunks of carrot and cherry tomatoes, as little ones love to dip them into the pâté – a good way to cajole them into being good vegetable, as well as oily-fish, eaters. You can put any leftover pâté into a container and store it in the fridge for 2 to 3 days – it makes a great quick and easy snack to have on toast or in a piece of warm pitta bread.
Fruity nut bars
These delicious snacks are great for upping your kids’ omega-3 intake, plus the dried fruit contributes to their 5-a-day and is a source of fibre.
MAKES 24
PREP TIME: 15 MINUTES
COOK TIME: 20 MINUTES
175g unsalted butter
75g honey
50g Sainsbury’s SO organic apricot conserve
100g demerara sugar
250g jumbo porridge oats
75g pecan nut halves
75g dried unsulphured apricots, finely chopped
75g dried Medjool dates, chopped
25g dried cranberries
75g sultanas
75g dried figs, chopped
30g pumpkin seeds
25g sunflower seeds
25g pistachios
25g hemp seeds
50g walnuts, crushed
25g shaved coconut
- Preheat the oven to 190°C, fan 170°C, gas 5 and line a 23cm square cake tin with baking parchment.
- In a large saucepan, melt the butter and add the honey, apricot conserve and demerara sugar. Stir gently for about a minute, until the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil for a couple of minutes, stirring all the time, then remove from the heat and add the remaining ingredients.
- Stir well, and pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin. Spread evenly and bake until golden brown, which should take about 20 minutes. Leave to cool for about 10 minutes, then mark into bars and remove from the tin to fully cool. They keep for 10 days.
