Small meals25 min active · 60 min total · 10 ingredients
Soft vegetable polenta slices
For your family tableSoft pieces to pick up, with a dip on the side.
The ingredients provideCarbohydrates · Calcium · Beta-carotene
Let’s cook →
Family kitchen · Small meals
Beetroot and chickpea spread
Cooked beetroot gives this gentle spread its bright pink colour. Chickpeas, yoghurt and a little sesame paste make it creamy on soft bread or from a spoon.
- Hands-on time
- 10 min
- Total time
- 10 min
- Base recipe
- 4 servings
Protein · Fibre · Folate
Why it works for children & what’s in itTimes are estimates for the base recipe. Larger quantities may take longer.
Step by step
0 / 4Here’s how.
An easier way today.
Use unseasoned cooked vacuum-packed beetroot and cooked chickpeas from a jar or tin. Store opened packs following their instructions.
What you can prepare ahead
Blend the evening before and refrigerate covered immediately. Spread bread shortly before eating so it does not become soggy.
Got interrupted? Tick off each step as you finish, so you can find your place again here.
When there is room for it today
Helping is welcome. Watching is too.
Your child can rinse the cooked chickpeas and spread the finished mixture using a blunt knife. An adult operates the blender.
For your family table
Adapt for younger eaters.
Blend very smooth, spread thinly on soft bread and remove hard crusts. Avoid loose whole chickpeas as decoration for young children.
The nutrients in these ingredients.
- Protein
- Here from: chickpeas and yoghurt
A building block children need for growth and for making body tissues.
Learn about Protein → - Fibre
- Here from: chickpeas, beetroot and wholemeal bread
Parts of plant foods that help keep digestion working normally.
Learn about Fibre → - Folate
- Here from: chickpeas and beetroot
This B vitamin is needed to make new cells.
Learn about Folate →
Chickpeas provide plant protein and fibre. Beetroot adds nutrients including folate. Its colour is a vegetable characteristic, not proof of special health effects.
These notes refer to the ingredients in the base recipe. The amount on the plate depends on preparation, portion size and swaps. Variety across the week makes the difference.
Make it work for you.
For a sesame-free version, omit tahini and add a little more yoghurt; check other packs for sesame traces. Cooked white beans can replace chickpeas.
Taking it slowly today?
Explain the pink colour openly: it comes from beetroot. Offer a small amount beside plain bread, with no expectation to taste immediately.
Keeping it safely
Immediately cover cleanly served leftovers, refrigerate at 5°C or below and use within 24 hours. Do not return leftovers from used bowls to the main batch. Keep chilled when travelling.
For younger eaters
Blend very smooth, spread thinly on soft bread and remove hard crusts. Avoid loose whole chickpeas as decoration for young children.
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Our approach & sources
These recipes are ideas for family life with children aged 3 and up. Quantities are a guide, not a target to finish. Age, appetite and individual needs vary. Variety across the week matters; no single recipe covers every nutritional need.
Our general guidance draws on the recommendations below. These organisations have not reviewed or endorsed the individual recipes. Editing: Pureli.
Recipe development: Pureli.
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