Recipe: Beetroot, Chickpea & Quinoa Balls with Avocado Sauce
If you love to meal prep or batch cook, then these Beetroot, Chickpea and Quinoa Balls with Avocado Sauce are for you! They’re an incredibly versatile bite – use them as a mid-afternoon snack, pop them in wraps or as a protein source in your own buddha bowls. We offer them regularly as part of our Spring/Summer rotating menu and they’re always a hit with our children and Educators no matter what time of day.
They’re also a great item to make ahead of time, freeze for an easy mid-week meal base or pop into the snack/lunchbox when you’re on the go. You can store them in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days or freeze them for 4 months.
Beetroot ball Ingredients:
- Ball ingredients
- 1 cup of Beetroot, grated (approx. half a big beetroot)
- 1 cup of Quinoa, red cooked (stop adding if it starts falling apart)
- ½ Brown Onion finely chopped
- 1 Garlic clove, crushed
- Breadcrumbs, wholemeal (add as needed for consistency)
- ⅓ cup of pumpkin seeds
- 1/2 tsp of Pepper Berry
- Oil of choice
- Zest of 1 Lemon
- 2 cans of chickpeas
- 1 tsp of Marmite
Avocado Sauce Ingredients:
- 1 Avocado
- 100 g of Yoghurt
- Splash of lemon, juice (to taste)
Side Salad Ingredients:
- Carrot grated
- Cucumber, Lebanese
- Tomato, cherry
Method :
- Make the quinoa according to the packet instructions – these can vary so be sure to check the packet.
- Add the quinoa ball ingredients into a food processor and pulse until they are well combined – make sure not to over process them as we don’t want to create a paste.
- In a large bowl, add the processed mixture and breadcrumbs a little at a time until you’re happy with the consistency.
- Roll the mixture into small balls – this is a great activity to get the children involved as well.
- Heat the oil in a pan and fry the balls allowing plenty of space between each ball.
- Whilst the balls are cooking, make the avocado sauce by adding the sauce ingredients to a mini blender (or stick blender) and blend until smooth and creamy.
- Chop up a few veggies for the salad and serve it deconstructured – that’s how we like it at the Preschool!
We offer Preschoolers fresh meals and snacks prepared onsite daily in our commercial-grade kitchen by our trained and passionate cook, all included in our daily fees. Our menu is 100% plant based, entirely free of animal products. The snacks and meals have been thoughtfully developed to appeal to children, but most importantly to be perfectly nutritionally balanced for children aged 2-6.
Our cook has crafted rotating seasonal menus in partnership with a registered dietitian and in consultation with Australian government guidelines for optimum age-appropriate nutrition. Our menu was also awarded the Excellence in Food & Menu Design award at the 2022 Excellence In Early Childhood Education Awards. This award recognised the hard work of our team to provide well-balanced, nutritious, and delicious food, that is considerate of the individual needs of children, allergies, sensitivities and cultures.
At Sustainable Play we encourage children to learn where their food comes from and to empower them with the tools to eat sustainably while being thoughtful to our planet and its animals. Children are encouraged to participate in planting, growing, and tending to fresh produce in the preschool garden – harvesting, helping prepare, cook, and then continuing the cycle by composting leftovers to be later used to feed our garden plants.[/ultimate_heading]