Most kids wouldn’t put salads at the top of their most loved food list and many struggle to eat them. That doesn’t mean we should avoid them altogether, we just need to make them fun and appealing to kids. This Cucumber and Apple Salad is perfect, the noodles are fun and fruit is always a winner in a kid-friendly salad!
Finn has only recently started to eat salad leaves (or leebes as he likes to call them), but even now he still struggles with them. I, therefore, generally make salads with only a few leaves thrown in. This way he is continually exposed to them, even if he doesn’t always eat them. This cucumber and apple salad is perfect for kids who don’t like leafy salads. It tastes amazing and is so kid friendly. The apple adds sweetness and the noodles are a lot of fun. Finn calls this “Spider Man Salad” as he thinks the noodles are webs! (He is currently spider man daft!)
I’ve given Rory (9 months) spiralized carrot and courgettes before and they were just played with and then thrown away. So when I gave him some of this salad I expected the same – to find the noodles stuffed down the side of the high chair or scattered over floor. However, this wasn’t the case. He managed to eat it no problem and there was very little waste! The softer texture of these noodles obviously helped but I think he enjoyed the sweetness of the apple too.
I like to make this ahead of time and let the marinade soak into the noodles. It tastes delicious after a couple of hours and straight out of the fridge.
If you don’t have a spiralizer then you could finely slice or grate the apple and cucumber.
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Cucumber and Apple Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cucumber (english cucumber)
- 1 apple (I use pink lady)
- juice of half a lemon
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp chopped coriander (cilantro)
Instructions
- Spiralize (or grate) the cucumber and apple then combine in a bowl with the coriander.
- Mix the lemon juice and oil together and pour over the cucumber and apple.
- Toss to ensure all the noodles are coated.
- Best left in fridge for a couple of hours before serving
Phoebe says
What a great idea to use a spiraliser for salady things, they didn’t exist when my kids were little but I can see how this sort of food would appeal to a toddler
Amy says
Thanks Phoebe š
Carly aka mummy says
What a great idea! I need to jazz up my salads, think I will invest in a spiralizer.
Amy says
Thanks Carly, def worth buying. I use it tons.
Mother Mands says
It was a toss up between a spiraliser or a dehydrator and the dehydrator won, but I’ve just got a julienne peeler and I can just about achieve a similar effect with things like cucumber, courgette, etc š
I think using it for salads is great, we’re eating tons of salads at the moment, going to get experimenting now š
#foodpornthursdays
Amy says
I haven’t got a dehydrator. Do you find you use it a lot?
Karen says
that looks yummy, I think I’ll try it on my kids!
Amy says
Thanks Karen š
Jen says
Looks yummy! Ands it’s stuff we can get in the BVI. Hooray! I’m trying this one! #foodpornthursdays
Amy says
Great! I wish I could enjoy it in the BVI!
Vanessa says
Lovely photos and what a great simple recipe! I could see this doing really well at a BBQ with some spicy chicken!
Amy says
Thanks Vanessa, yeah that sounds like it would work nicely. I think I will do that too!