Generally a vegie-smuggling theory of mine has been that too much repetition in a kitchen or on a weekly menu is a bad thing. Dealing with fussy kids is hard enough without adding an extra layer of “but it’s Tuesday – we always eat bolognaise on Tuesdays”. Too much predictability will make conquering bad food habits particularly tricky. So I like to mix it up and keep the kids used to coming to the dinner table with an open mind. “What’s this?” they’ll ask. I’ll tell them and they’ll shrug an “ok”, all the while giving it a sniff and checking out the colours.
Which is why our recent trip to Fiji was even more exciting – I completely let the rule book go. Repetition was inevitable since the kids only ate free if they ate from the kid’s menu (I’ve discussed dismal kid’s menus before here). So for lunch, every. single. day, my boy chose to eat ‘Fun in a Bun’. A mini burger of such magnificence that it was entirely satisfying for 5 days in a row. It came with chips (of course) and there was some token lettuce which was quickly tossed aside.
But looking at his blissed out face every day I pledged that mummy would tackle fun-in-a-bun. Which I have to admit has been quite fun. Of course my burgers are meanly sneaking in stuff, but not too much. And there is a certain lazy thrill is serving up a minimal kind of bun, without too much salad or fuss.
And the kids love it.
The funnest bun in town
Fun in a bun
125g can 4-bean mix, rinsed, drained
2 big cloves garlic, peeled
4 spring onions, chopped into 4cm lengths
1 medium carrot, peeled, roughly chopped
1 egg
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
500g beef mince
Spray oil
To serve: burger buns, salad, sauces.
Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a baking tray with foil and place a wire rack on top. Spray the rack with oil. Set aside.
In a mini food processor, pulse the beans, garlic, spring onions, carrots, egg and sauce until everything is roughly chopped and well combined.
Place the mince into a large mixing bowl. Pour the vegie mix over the top and use your hands (wear kitchen gloves if you’re squeamish) to combine it all together really well. Shape the mix into about 14 mini-patties and place them onto the oven rack. Spray with oil and bake for 15 minutes. Carefully turn them over, spray with more oil and bake for another 15 minutes until cooked through.
Serve on small bread rolls with your choice of classic burger toppings – choose from lettuce, tomato, avocado, beetroot, gherkins and cheese. Top with your choice of sauce – we like classic tomato with American mustard.
Makes 14ish patties – serves 2 adults & 3-4 kids.
