Our 5-a-day and the humble pea!

Do we really need to achieve variety with 5-a-day?  We’ve all heard the “eat a rainbow” mantra but that’s not always possible and there is a lot to be said for picking your battles.  Ideally, your child’s 5-a-day should be made up of 3 portions of veg and 2 of fruit.  A portion is about a handful – and that’s a handful of the person eating, so a child’s portion will be smaller than your own.

Whilst that variety is the ideal, some of us know that with the best will in the world, the only thing we’re going to get some children to eat on the veg side is the humble pea!

The humble pea - we don’t usually think about it as an exotic food in terms of nutrient composition—but we should, they’re rich in phytonutrients, low in bad fat and generally nutritious and high in anti-oxidants. Cooked peas contain significant quantities of vitamin K, manganese, vitamin B-1 and vitamin C. Additionally, peas are a great source of dietary fiber.

Even though green peas are an extremely low-fat food, the type of fat and fat-soluble nutrients they contain is impressive. Recent research has shown that green peas are a reliable source of omega-3 fats in the form of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and also omega-6 fatty acid, linoleic acid.  They also contain beta-carotene and small but valuable amounts of vitamin E.

Give yourself a break – if all they’ll eat is peas, then give them lots of peas!  And you can add them to so much – so if you’re having a meat dish with rice – boil the peas in with the rice.  If using frozen, let them defrost first and add them to the rice about half way through cooking – this way any “leaching” of nutrients will be “caught” by the rice!  If you’re having cottage pie, put the peas in with the mince and make it a one pot meal!

I gave my daughter, as a toddler, a small bowl of frozen peas as a snack when it was hot outside rather than sugary ice pops and to this day, when frozen peas come out, her hand is straight in the saucepan to scoop them up before they cook!  I don’t really have many memories of food as a child but I certainly remember the joy of picking peas in my grandfather’s garden and eating them fresh from the pod – I preferred them to raspberries as picking them didn’t scratch my hands up!