Rainbow Veg Wraps with Peanut Sauce
Part of making veggies more exciting for kids is playing with cooking method, preparation method, texture, shape and colour. Colour is by far my favourite way of doing this. We are hard-wired as humans to crave bright colours and variety. We know it is our best hope of health and wellbeing. The problem is, in the modern world, we tend to be lured by brightly coloured packaging and brightly dyed processed foods rather than bright coloured vegetables and fruit.
This recipe uses our inbuilt desire for this variety and colour to make vegetables seem more appealing.
The “eat the rainbow” idea comes into full play, but the appeal of the wraps isn’t just due to its array of gorgeous, completely natural colours that tell us the food is packed with nutrients our bodies need.
Nope, I took it one step further and smothered it in a peanut butter satay sauce, just to make extra sure kids are excited by this meal! 😉
I like to make double the peanut sauce and give them some to dip the wraps in, too, but the amount in the recipe will make enough to cover the veggies before wrapping.
There is nothing to say you cannot swap the veggies in this wrap for your own favourites. In fact, one surefire way to get kids more interested is to ask them to come up with ideas to get all the colours in there. Maybe they aren’t big fans of red bell peppers but love tomatoes? Or perhaps they don’t fancy cucumber but enjoy crunchy lettuce or courgettes?
You can also adapt the wraps: use gluten free or corn if you need or prefer it. Switch up the wrap for big collard greens (spring greens) or lettuce leaves to wrap the veggies in.
Allergic to nuts? Try swapping the peanut butter in the sauce for tahini.
Want some extra protein in there? Try some cooked meat strips, pulled cooked meat or cooked quinoa or beans.
Adaptable, affordable, amazingly yummy.
These wraps are so colourful and fun that adults and children alike tend to love them! They are crunchy and delicious, particularly when the veg is drizzled with a yummy-but-super-simple peanut satay sauce.
- 2 carrots, cut into thin matchsticks or grated
- 1/4 red cabbage, sliced thinly or grated
- 1/2 cucumber, cut into thin matchstick or grated
- 1 Little Gem or Mini Romaine lettuce, sliced thinly
- 2 bell peppers (I like to use one red and one yellow for variety of colours), sliced thinly
- a large handful of cherry tomatoes, quartered (optional)
- large handful of fresh coriander (cilantro), roughly chopped
- 1 quantity (or 2x if you want to make extra for dipping) peanut satay sauce (see notes)*
- 4 wholemeal tortilla wraps (or gluten free/corn or large greens)
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Lay out your tortilla wraps and pile each with a quarter of the sliced veggies. Sprinkle with coriander (cilantro), then pour over a quarter of the satay sauce onto each. Mix, if you want. Then roll up the wrap and serve on its own or with extra satay sauce for dipping!
*You can find my super simple sugar free satay sauce here. Just 5 ingredients and 1 minute!
