Kids’ Salad in the Thermomix® is our go-to when the little ones sit down in front of a plate of vegetables and eye it with suspicion. We chop everything at speed 5 until each bite is evenly mild and there are no large chunks left to pick out.
The trick: the Cheddar goes into the mixing bowl first, on its own, and is chopped for three seconds at speed 5. Only then does the veg go in. If the cheese is mixed with the wet lettuce from the start, it clumps into greasy blobs rather than fine shreds that distribute evenly.
Kids' Salad in the Thermomix®
Ingredients 0 / 8 ✓
- 50 g Cheddar
- 300 g carrot
- 1 red pepper
- 300 g cucumber
- 2 Romaine lettuce hearts
- 100 g yoghurt
- 1 tsp salt
- 10 cherry tomatoes
Instructions 0 / 4
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1
Add the Cheddar to the mixing bowl and chop for 3 sec / speed 5.
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2
Wash the carrots and cut into pieces. Wash the pepper and cut into quarters (remove the core and seeds). Wash the cucumber and cut into pieces.
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3
Wash the lettuce, drain well and add to the mixing bowl. Add the carrots, pepper, cucumber, yoghurt and salt, then chop using the spatula for 5 sec / speed 5.
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4
Transfer the salad to a bowl. Wash the cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters, place over the salad and mix well.
Nutrition per serving
Why cheese first, vegetables second
Cheddar contains fat and becomes sticky when it meets moisture. If yoghurt, cucumber and lettuce are already in the mixing bowl, the cheese draws in water and forms lumps rather than shreds. Three seconds at speed 5 in a dry mixing bowl produces fine yellow flakes that later mix cleanly through the vegetables and are present in every spoonful without being overpowering.
After the cheese, everything else goes in at once: washed Romaine lettuce, carrots in rough pieces, quartered pepper with seeds removed, cucumber in pieces, plus yoghurt and salt. Five seconds at speed 5 with the spatula is enough. Longer and the salad turns mushy; shorter and the pieces stay too large for children to pick out.
Romaine over iceberg: the texture choice
Romaine lettuce has firmer leaves than iceberg and does not turn watery when chopped. Iceberg releases too much liquid and the salad ends up swimming in a thin yoghurt sauce. After five seconds at speed 5, Romaine still has a little bite, carries the grated carrot and pepper well and makes the whole salad firmer.
The cherry tomatoes deliberately do not go into the mixing bowl. Quartered by hand, they are added over the finished salad after blending and then mixed in. In the Thermomix® they would turn to juice and colour the entire salad pink. As whole quarters they stay visible, add sweetness and bring a second texture alongside the grated vegetables.
Yoghurt instead of mayonnaise: mild flavour for young eaters
One hundred grams of yoghurt binds the grated vegetables without making the salad too rich. Mayonnaise would be too intense for most children; yoghurt is neutral and lets the carrot, pepper and cucumber flavour come through. One teaspoon of salt is enough. More masks the natural sweetness of the vegetables.
If the salad sits for a while, the vegetables release water and the texture becomes thinner. Serve immediately after mixing or leave in the fridge for a maximum of one hour. Any longer and the liquid separates and the salad loses its even consistency.
Pepper preparation: remove the seeds or it turns bitter
The red pepper is quartered and the core removed completely. The white ribs and seeds taste bitter and disrupt the mild character of the salad. Once deseeded, cut into rough pieces. The size does not matter as speed 5 reduces everything to uniform shreds.
Carrots and cucumber are simply washed and roughly chopped. Peeling is not necessary as the skin adds colour and nutrients. The Thermomix® chops both so finely that no hard pieces remain. If the carrots are very thick, remove the woody centre or the salad will be stringy in places.
Spatula during blending: even distribution without over-processing
During the five seconds at speed 5, insert the spatula through the lid and push the vegetables down. Without the spatula, pieces stay at the top while everything at the bottom turns to mush. With the spatula everything passes through the blades evenly and the result is uniform without over-blending.
After blending, transfer immediately to a bowl, add the quartered cherry tomatoes on top and stir through with a spoon. Do not blend again in the Thermomix® as the tomatoes would break apart. Mixed by hand they stay visible as colourful pieces and provide a sweet contrast to the mild yoghurt and vegetable mix.
Serve straight away or chill briefly
The salad can be served immediately or left in the fridge for up to one hour. Do not leave it longer than two hours as the vegetables release too much water and the texture becomes watery. Freezing does not work as the structure collapses completely on thawing.
Goes well with: rolls and nuggets.
Leftovers are still edible the next day but noticeably thinner. Stir before serving as the liquid collects at the bottom. If the salad has become too runny, stir in a tablespoon of yoghurt to absorb the excess moisture.
