Design a lunch menu

Activity

Inspired by the vegetables grown in the school garden, research some healthy recipes and design a mouth watering menu for a lunch time feast.

Learning objectives

Research different recipes
Design a menu considering healthy options
Learn different ways to use ingredients
Consider how your school grown vegetables can be eaten

Preparation

Ask the pupils to think of their favourite meals or snacks that contain vegetables.
Ask them to talk to their parents and bring in recipe books or magazines from home that may have pictures of recipes.
Print off some recipe examples from the internet.

Equipment needed

Recipes books
Gardening and cookery magazines
Access to internet
Paper, pens and pencils

Step by step

Make a list of all the vegetables growing in the garden.
Consider which vegetables can be eaten raw and which ones need to be cooked.
Make a list of all the meals or dishes that the pupils like to eat. Do any of these contain vegetables growing at school?
Use the list of favourite dishes plus recipe books and magazines to come up with some tasty simple dishes that contain some of the vegetables in the garden.
Find a recipe for a dish with at least one of the vegetables growing in your plot. What other ingredients are needed to make the recipes?
Write out the recipe, draw or stick cut out pictures of the vegetables (and/ or fruit) it contains to make it appealing.

Hints & tips

Keep it simple – eat the fruit and vegetables raw if you can for maximum flavour and ease of preparation!
If you have fruit growing in the garden, think of a fruit recipe to go with your lunchbox vegetable recipes.
Use this activity as part of Grow Your Own Lunch class growing topic

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