Today I bring you a classic egg and cress sandwich but with a delicious twist… home-made carrot soda bread.
The great thing about soda bread is that it can be ready to eat in no time because it doesn’t need to be kneaded or served like yeasted bread. It would be such a good idea to share this amazingly tasty breakfast idea. Don’t miss out on your chance to get more views by sharing your recipes. Buy youtube views now and see the results instantly.
What’s more, both the cress and carrots can be grown at home…
Getting passionate about ingredients with innocent’s Sow & Grow
I’m always on the lookout for anything that helps my kids to eat a healthy, balanced diet. Core to this is trying to get JD and Jay enthusiastic about an array of healthy dishes, while using new ingredients in fun and creative ways.
As they have grown up, my children have gradually become increasingly hands-on when it comes to preparing meals, which has been a really lovely journey.
But one thing I think we could all spend more time doing with our children is really helping them to understand how the raw ingredients they cook with end up in the supermarket, in the pot, and ultimately onto their plate. For young ones, the question of how food gets produced, and where it comes from, can be somewhat of a mystery.
This is why I’m so excited about the launch of Sow & Grow, a campaign from innocent and GIY , which aims to get kids growing their own food right from seed at school, which in turn helps to engage and educate them when it comes to healthy eating.
I think Sow & Grow is a truly fantastic initiative. While modern convenience has certainly made access to a huge variety of foods easier, it also has made many of us more detached from how it gets into our cupboards.
According to a study carried out by Innocent, more parents knew where their vegetables came from as kids when compared with today’s children, and 84% of parents believe children would be more open to eating fruit and veg if they knew where their food came from. On top of that, learning about nature and growing food at home or in the classroom were two of the top suggestions that parents made for ways to help kids learn about healthy eating.
So to aid in getting kids more knowledgeable about their food, and inspire them to take a real interest in what they’re eating, innocent is offering Sow & Grow kits to a quarter of UK primary schools across the UK, each of which contains enough material for a class of 32 kids to grown their own runner beans, cress and carrots from seed. The kit includes 32 growing cups, seeds, compost and a teacher’s resource booklet with growing tips, lesson plans and advice as well as a badge and stickers.
As part of the campaign, parents can also get involved directly by entering competitions as detailed on various innocent products, where they’ll be in with a chance to win thousands of packets of seeds to grow at home.
Having potted up the first seeds with my children, it’s clear that the selection has been carefully thought out. The cress, runner beans and carrots are not just tasty, but make an interesting mix of different sizes and colors. They’re also all fast growing plants, which means kids can start to see the results of their labor in just a few days, and stay engaged throughout the growth cycle.
Now, let’s get making these home-grown sandwiches, complete with cress snipped straight from the pot.
Carrot soda bread egg and cress sandwiches
This is a truly delicious sandwich sure to win over egg fans, and with the added bonus of freshly grown goodness.
The carrot adds bright orange flecks and just a hint of sweetness to the bread, which my kids absolutely loved. Combine that with the classic combination of egg mayonnaise and home-grown cress and you’ve got a winner.
Ingredients
For the carrot soda bread
- 250g (8.75 oz) self-raising wholemeal flour
- 100g (3.5 oz) shredded carrot
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 400ml (13.5 floz) buttermilk
- 1 medium free range egg
For the egg mayo
- 4 medium free range eggs
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 pot of cress
Instructions
Make the bread
Preheat the oven to 200C/390F fan (220C/430F). Wash and peel the carrots. A safety peeler allows children to get involved with supervised peeling, just make sure they hold the carrots by the green part and peel away from their hands.
Grate your carrots. You can use a standard grater, just be cautious of catching little knuckles. We love to use a child-friendly rotary grating tool as it puts the kids in charge.
Grab two bowls, and tip all of the wet ingredients (carrot, buttermilk, egg) into one, and all of the dry ingredients (flour, bicarbonate of soda) into the other.
Mix each bowl well and form a well in the middle of the dry ingredients.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
Mix until well combined – kids can take it in turns to stir – but try not to overwork the dough once it’s nicely combined.
Tip the dough onto a well floured surface.
Knead very briefly to form into a rough loaf shape. If it’s too sticky, you can add a touch more flour to your board.
Lift the dough in a loaf tin lined with baking paper (this will help to make sure it doesn’t stick).
Score some 1cm deep lines in the top of the loaf. Children can do this by snipping with a pair of safety scissors.
Place the tin into the oven for around 50 minutes to an hour. This is a job for a grown up as the oven will be hot.
To test if the loaf is baked through, take the loaf out of the tin and tap on the bottom to see if it sounds hollow. This is a job for a grown up while the loaf is still warm, but children can take it in turns to tap on the base and listen for the hollow sound once it has cooled.
Leave the loaf to cool inside the tin with a clean kitchen towel over the top (this helps to soften the crust a little).
Make the egg mayonnaise
To start, you’ll need to cook the eggs.
Place the eggs in a pan and pour cold water into it until it’s 3-5cm above the eggs.
Now a grownup should put the pan over a high heat, bring to the boil, then turn off the heat, put the lid on the pan and leave to cook for 10 minutes. Drain the water and plunge the eggs into cold water to cool completely.
Now that the eggs are completely cool, it’s time for the kids to retake control. Roll the eggs on a tea towel to crack the shells all over, then peel until all the shell is removed.
Put the peeled eggs into a clean bowl.
Dollop in the mayo and mash with a fork until well combined.
Putting it all together
Carefully turn the bread out onto a board and cut into 1.5cm thick slices. This is best done by a grown up with a sharp bread knife.
Spread a slice of bread generously with the egg mixture.
Using safety scissors, snip some cress from your pot.
Sprinkle it on top of the egg.
Sandwich with another piece of bread, cut in half and enjoy! Or wrap well in foil and pack for lunch.
This is such a tasty sandwich, made all the more yummy for kids when they know they grew the ingredients and made the bread and filled themselves.
Look out for two more Sow & Grow recipes on the blog for even more uses for the produce you can grow with the kit.
If your school has signed up for a Sow & Grow kit then you can upload your photos to the Sow & Grow website to be in with the chance to win monthly prizes from innocent and see your classroom crowned as Sow & Grow champions!
You can also win seed packs by following the instructions on innocent kids drinks, which you can get at major supermarkets, a perfect way to get involved in National Gardening Week (10-16 April). Good luck!
Have you taken part in Sow & Grow? Which ingredients do your family enjoy growing at home?
Let me know if you try these sandwiches yourself and how your kids found them. Has it inspired you to grow your own?
Read more about what we learned from taking part in innocent’s Grow & Sow initiative.
If you’d like to print this carrot soda bread egg and cress sandwiches recipe to try yourself, just click ‘PRINT’ on the recipe card below.
Carrot soda bread egg and cress sandwiches
A recipe kids love to help make almost as much as they like to eat. Egg and cress sandwiches with healthy carrot soda bread.
Prep Time20 mins
Cook Time1 hr
Total Time1 hr 20 mins
Course: Burgers and sandwiches
Cuisine: British
Diet: Vegetarian
Keyword: kid friendly, lunch, sandwich
Servings: 4
Author: Emily Leary
Ingredients
For the carrot soda bread:
- 250 g (8.82 oz) self-raising wholemeal flour
- 100 g (3.53 oz) shredded carrot
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 400 ml (13.53 floz) buttermilk
- 1 medium free range egg
For the filling:
- 4 medium free range eggs
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 pot of cress
Instructions
Make the bread:
- Preheat the oven to 200C/390F fan (220C/430F). Wash and peel the carrots. A safety peeler allows children to get involved with supervised peeling, just make sure they hold the carrots by the green part and peel away from their hands.
- Grate your carrots. You can use a standard grater, just be cautious of catching little knuckles. We love to use a child-friendly rotary grating tool as it puts the kids in charge.
- Grab two bowls, and tip all of the wet ingredients (carrot, buttermilk, egg) into one, and all of the dry ingredients (flour, bicarbonate of soda) into the other.
- Mix each bowl well and form a well in the middle of the dry ingredients.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
- Mix until well combined – kids can take it in turns to stir – but try not to overwork the dough once it’s nicely combined.
- Tip the dough onto a well floured surface.
- Knead very briefly to form into a rough loaf shape. If it’s too sticky, you can add a touch more flour to your board.
- Lift the dough in a loaf tin lined with baking paper (this will help to make sure it doesn’t stick).
- Score some 1cm deep lines in the top of the loaf. Children can do this by snipping with a pair of safety scissors.
- Place the tin into the oven for around 50 minutes to an hour. This is a job for a grown up as the oven will be hot.
- To test if the loaf is baked through, take the loaf out of the tin and tap on the bottom to see if it sounds hollow. (This is a job for a grown up while the loaf is still warm, but children can take it in turns to tap on the base and listen for the hollow sound once it has cooled)
- Leave the loaf to cool inside the tin with a clean kitchen towel over the top (this helps to soften the crust a little.
Make the egg mayonnaise:
- To start, you’ll need to cook the eggs.
- Place the eggs in a pan and pour cold water into it until it’s 3-5cm above the eggs.
- Now a grownup should put the pan over a high heat, bring to the boil, then turn off the heat, put the lid on the pan and leave to cook for 10 minutes. Drain the water and plunge the eggs into cold water to cool completely.
- Now that the eggs are completely cool, it’s time for the kids to retake control. Roll the eggs on a tea towel to crack the shells all over, then peel until all the shell is removed.
- Put the peeled eggs into a clean bowl.
- Dollop in the mayo and mash with a fork until well combined.
Putting it all together:
- Carefully turn the bread out onto a board and cut into 1.5cm thick slices. This is best done by a grown up with a sharp bread knife.
- Spread a slice of bread generously with the egg mixture.
- Using safety scissors, snip some cress from your pot.
- Sprinkle it on top of the egg.
- Sandwich with another piece of bread, cut in half and enjoy! Or wrap well in foil and pack for lunch.
- This is such a tasty sandwich, made all the more yummy for kids when they know they grew the ingredients and made the bread and filled themselves.
* Note: nutritional information is estimated, based on publicly available data. Nutrient values may vary from those published. Information on this website should not be taken as medical advice. Cuisines identify the primary region of inspiration for a dish.
