Spanish Beef With A Special Veggie Sauce

The Tastiest Way To Up The Veggies: Spanish Beef With A Special Veggie Sauce

With more veggies than your kids realise, this midweek meal is a winning combination of tasty and nutritious.

Serves: 5
Preparation: 5 minutes
Cooking: 20 minutes

Ingredients
500g of lean beef strips
500g of baby potatoes
1 brown onion
1 red capsicum
1 yellow capsicum
50g of tomato paste
1 garlic clove
1/2 bunch of flat leaf parsley
2 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp paprika
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp lemon peel
250ml of veggie stock
2 tbsp olive oil

Method

Cut the baby potatoes in half and then place in a medium saucepan of cold water and bring to the boil. Cook until tender and then drain.
Meanwhile, in a bowl, toss the beef in smoked paprika, regular paprika, coriander, salt, lemon peel and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a large deep frying pan, over high heat and stir-fry the beef until browned.
Reduce the heat and add the sliced onion, crushed garlic and strips of capsicum. Add the stock and the baby potatoes and simmer for 5 minutes with a lid on and 5 minutes with the lid removed. Toss the chopped parsley through the beef before serving.

Tips: I make my own veggie stock and add it into tomato-based sauces to amp up the vitamins and minerals that my kids eat. The veggie stock can often be made with the scraps of other meals - keep your onion peels, carrot peels, the end of the celery, anything at the bottom of your veggie crisper that might go to waste and simmer slowly in slightly salted water until reduced. You can then store this in the freezer for later use.

Hidden Veggie Magic: Play A Game Of Hide-And-Seek To Get Your Kids Eating More Nutrients

The daily struggle to get kids to eat their veggies is something all parents can relate to and sympathise with. While kids are more than happy to eat non-nutritious snacks, it can be a real slog to convince them to eat their veggies! This doesn't have to be the case.

Mother of two and home-cook Shari Wakefield (known for her popular food blog Good Food Week) knows exactly how hard it can be getting kids to eat nutritious meals. To help other parents with this battle, she has teamed up with Australian Beef to create two delicious recipes that not only sneak the good stuff in but will also have kids coming back for seconds.

"We all know how fickle kids can be when it comes to eating the meals we cook for them. The versatility and great taste of beef make it the perfect 'partner in hidden-veggie crime'. Not only is it a bit of fun for me, dinner times are easier and I know my kids are getting all the vitamins and nutrients that their growing minds and bodies need," says Shari.

From Spanish beef in veggie-packed sauces to beef tacos where kids choose their own veggies, Shari's recipes are sure to have your kids eating more vegetables on a daily basis.

Happy kids and no dinnertime struggles, it's a win-win.

Shari's top 5 hacks for hiding veggies in kids' meals

1. Serve your meals 'family share-style' - placing all the choices in the middle of the table and allowing children to pick their veggies and make their plate themselves.
2. Grow some veggies - children are more interested in eating something that they have watched grow.
3. Get your kids in the kitchen - children are more likely to eat something that they have helped to prepare.

4. Add hidden veggies - veggie scraps can be turned into veggie stock to be added to sauces or grated down and simmered in tomato based sauces.
5. Introduce veggies at breakfast time - don't get stressed by feeding your children their veggies all at once. Try blending banana, mango, kiwi, kale and baby spinach in coconut water for a kid-friendly smoothie.