Hopefully, over the winter you’ve accumulated a repertoire of accepted (and even enjoyed) meals that contain enough vegies and nutrition to keep you achieving your status as an awesome-parent. But the casseroles and bakes that you’ve come to rely on may hold less appeal as the weather warms up.
It’s time to lighten the menu, and traditionally it’s the time when the BBQ gets trundled out and parents are faced with the screwed up faces of little kids who are not friends with salad.
There’s often not much smuggling potential in salads. They are, after all, full of raw and highly-recognisable ingredients. To get the kids interested in them, they need to be particularly tasty. While a good dressing helps a green salad to be more agreeable, there are a couple of more creative salad recipes that are a good starting point when you’re trying to instil a BBQ & salad culture.
Start simple and convey the whole concept of cold side dishes with a couple of particularly tasty examples that they can’t resist. Our favourite noodle salad works well, luring them in with flavour and crunch. Another sure-fire hit will be this Japanese-style potato salad that uses a mayonnaise-based sauce to entice them.
Dou itashimashite.
Japanese potato salad
Sauce:
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tsp caster sugar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
4 medium mashing potatoes, peeled, quartered
1 carrot, peeled, grated
4 spring onions, finely sliced
250g corn kernels, drained
1 cucumber, sliced into rounds
Combine the sauce ingredients well and set aside.
Pop the potatoes into a large pot of cold water and bring to the boil (adding them cold stops the edges from disintegrating). Reduce the heat to a strong simmer and leave for 15 minutes until soft enough that you can easily push a skewer through. Drain and add to a large bowl. Use a fork to roughly mash, but leave heaps of texture with lots of large chunks.
Stir the carrot and spring onions through the hot potatoes (this cooks them slightly). Season with plenty of salt & pepper. Pour over the sauce and mix thoroughly.
Leave to cool then combine in the corn and cucumber. Refrigerate until you’re ready to serve.
Serves 2 adults & 3-4 kids as a side dish (leftovers make great lunches).
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Vegie Smugglers 
Divna Dgreat said,
November 12, 2013 @ 3:48 pm
I would choose Stiff Little Fingers n Special Duties n both Jamie Oliver’s (the cook n the drummer from Uk Subs) and Dorothy Louise out of Area 51 n Skumbo Sotb cause he needs to come back home to Brisbane for a holiday and because we’re I a great cook.
Regards Divna Dgreat
Fiona said,
November 12, 2013 @ 5:35 pm
Jamie Oliver, I could sit and listen to him talk about food and recipes for hours! He is just such a passionate person about cooking and healthy eating. To BBQ with him would be the ultimate experience!
wendyblume said,
November 12, 2013 @ 6:36 pm
yep, he’d be on my list too! Apparently he’s a little.. errr… coarse… in real life. A bit potty mouthed, I believe. So actually I think he and I would get on just fine!
Vyktoria said,
November 12, 2013 @ 5:46 pm
I would love to get Morgan freeman to a BBQ just so I could hear the worlds best narrative voice in person! I think it would be so surreal
Leah Rule said,
November 12, 2013 @ 5:47 pm
Yummo will have to schedule this in our menu plan with hopefully some peppercorn products! Liked peppercorns page
Leah Rule said,
November 12, 2013 @ 5:50 pm
Coming up to Christmas and I have 2 kids so would have to say Santa – the guy who plays st Nick in Lapland. Have seen photos and the kids would love it.
wendyblume said,
November 12, 2013 @ 6:36 pm
nice call!
Karissa Martin said,
November 12, 2013 @ 8:38 pm
Looks great
Melissa Ross said,
November 12, 2013 @ 9:06 pm
I’d love to have George Clooney at my BBQ. How sexy would he look, standing at my BBQ, glass of wine in hand, wearing an apron and cooking my Peppercorn sausages and burgers? Yes, that would do me fine!
wendyblume said,
November 12, 2013 @ 9:10 pm
And I think he’d get on well with Hugh Jackman, who’d be both keeping me company and flipping burgers at the same time. 🙂
Melissa Hart said,
November 12, 2013 @ 11:32 pm
Ultimate BBQ guest would be Luke Nguyen as I would love to see what yummy Vietnamese / Asian food he could create on a BBQ. Plus i would love to talk about his travels throughout Asia. Mel
Michelle V said,
November 13, 2013 @ 6:22 am
I’d love to have Stevie Wonder at my bbq. He could seranade me as I cook, and he wouldn’t notice if I overcook the meat by mistake! The perfect guest 🙂
Julia Mason said,
November 13, 2013 @ 1:29 pm
I’d love to have Pink at my BBQ, because she is a party bombshell, my BBQ would be Rocking, so raise a glass for Pink, and have a drink! I’ll get everyone in the mood, with my glorious food!
Amanda O'Keeffe said,
November 13, 2013 @ 1:54 pm
I would love Lucille Ball, i loved her as a kid and she is one funny lady and diner with her would be a laugh, i love to have some comedy over the diner table and the faces she used to pull cracked me up.
Jasmine Nelson said,
November 13, 2013 @ 9:40 pm
G’day, I’d have Paul Hogan because he has a wicked sense of humour. We’ll have a great yarn, while he throws another shrimp on my barbie
Lisa Gray said,
November 14, 2013 @ 2:15 pm
Princess Mary for a barbie roast.
As we raise our glasses for a bubbly toast,
I’d ask, “Which country’s food do you love the most?”
Jennifer B. said,
November 14, 2013 @ 2:52 pm
A humorous guest with a laconic Aussie style,
Sort out my sad BBQ with a smile.
Build me a decent table before dinner…
Give me SCOTT CAM! That man’s a winner!!!
Diana O said,
November 14, 2013 @ 3:02 pm
John Travolta, I think he’d have a lot of interesting and amazing tales to tell, be it about Hollywood, his flying and even his religion. Plus I think he’s gorgeous, and it would be my honour to feed and entertain a man I’ve adored for a lifetime.
Di said,
November 14, 2013 @ 3:06 pm
Gordon Ramsay. I saw him on a documentary type show with Jeremy Clarkson ages ago, and he came across as the nicest man. I think we’d have a blast, none of us wanting him to leave. And he’d not offend any of us with a slip of his vile tongue, as I too am tainted with that hideous trait!
kerry santillo said,
November 14, 2013 @ 4:14 pm
Brad Pitt, no need to say anything except I would Feel the Thrill of the Grill 🙂
Val Crisp said,
November 14, 2013 @ 4:42 pm
Bear Grylls but I would definitely be choosing the menu, don’t fancy crispy fried tarantula or similar!
spog777 said,
November 14, 2013 @ 6:59 pm
John Wayne because he was well known for cooking on hell of a tasty Texas T-Bone and wow think of the stories he would tell
soni said,
November 14, 2013 @ 9:17 pm
It would be my sister-in-law, who is one of those weird vegetarians who I just don’t understand! How can you not love meat??
Cathy H said,
November 15, 2013 @ 12:03 am
It’s currently still Spring racing season,
So with DAMIEN OLIVER we’d have a reason,
To throw steak on the barbie and drink champagne,
Then rehash the moment again and again!
karinaw said,
November 15, 2013 @ 12:33 am
I would invite Jamie Oliver so he can cook us a meal with the BBQ and in 15 minutes too!
sonia c said,
November 15, 2013 @ 9:00 am
Henry VIII: I would show him BBQ chicken that he would never think of throwing over his shoulder
Michelle Gray said,
November 15, 2013 @ 9:50 am
My late grandparents who never got the opportunity to meet my children. I would love to sit on the deck and watch them play in the garden with my kids, while the Peppercorn sausage sizzled away on the BBQ.
Tanya Clarke said,
November 15, 2013 @ 10:02 am
I’d love to have a visit from Keith Urban and Nicole. Keeping it an aussie affair. Our kids could all have a play together too.
cath woods said,
November 15, 2013 @ 10:41 am
I would invite kath and Kel Day-Knight from Fountain Lakes,so Kel can cook his sausage creations and kath and I can have some “wine time philosophy”
Tara N said,
November 15, 2013 @ 11:04 am
Hugh Jackman would be great – a fellow Australian with many a showbiz story to tell, and after our meal he could knock out a tune or two, what a special performance.
Sandymg said,
November 15, 2013 @ 11:21 am
BEAR GRYLLS & QUEEN ELIZABETH II: Imagine it! One so well mannered and the other about to tear the leg off the nearest wildlife with his bare hands to feed the guests. We’d learn a lot from the 2 of them and perhaps they’d teach other something as well. We’d also be entertained and well fed (with delicious Peppercorn) whilst politely refusing Bear’s barbecued blue tongue.
Jody Buhagiar said,
November 15, 2013 @ 1:27 pm
Margaret Fulton. An iconic lady, great in the kitchen and my mum handed down her first cookbook to me and I would love to get it signed 🙂
Jacki Dodd said,
November 15, 2013 @ 5:10 pm
I would invite every vegetarian I could find and dare them to remain a veg whilst being surrounded by all the delicious Peppercorn products!!
Tracy said,
November 15, 2013 @ 5:55 pm
My ultimate BBQ guest would be Jamie Oliver, as I’m a massive fan and I think he’d appreciate having someone cook for him, for a change! With the peppercorn products I couldn’t go too far wrong, so there’d be no pressure and I could pick his brains at leisure!
Nicole Harrison said,
November 15, 2013 @ 6:24 pm
I would invite Chrissie Swan – I love her and think she is hilarious !
Sophie Hill said,
November 15, 2013 @ 6:24 pm
Peppa Pig. My children are obsessed with Peppa. I’m quite over Peppa but she could entertain the kids while my husband & I prepare a delicious BBQ dinner. We just won’t mention that there may be a bit of Peppa in the snags……
Lisa Callanan said,
November 15, 2013 @ 6:38 pm
I would like to have a BBQ with my Pop. He passed away in 1992 and I still miss him. I would love him to meet my daughters. He was also a butcher and so I am sure he would love a good BBQ.
womblywoo said,
November 15, 2013 @ 6:53 pm
While I’d like to invite Stephen King to tell us scary stories, or an Eskimo (to break the ice), but my daughter would kill me if I didn’t invite Doctor Who, so she could ask him questions about his Tardis.