Encourage them to grow their own veg and you'll discover a whole new world of benefits.

Before Jamie Oliver was running his School Dinners campaign, Australian food writer Stephanie Alexander was championing healthy eating for children down under with a kitchen garden project in Melbourne. Five years on Alexander's team has worked with hundreds of primary students, teaching them to plant organic vegetable patches in their school grounds and then how to cook with their rich bounty.

At Alexander's Collingwood College kitchen garden, parents were encouraged to volunteer while children learned the skills of composting, planting, seed saving and harvesting. By the time the crops were picked it was time to get to grips with the produce in the kitchen. Here kids learned diverse skills like identifying vegetables, describing tastes and textures, rolling pasta, making salad dressings and baking cakes.

Overall, an ingenious plan that Irish kids could benefit hugely from. (Learn more at kitchengardenfoundation. org. au) Since kicking-off the kitchen garden project, Alexander has gathered together the recipes that her young pupils have most enjoyed making and eating. Now over 120 of these favourite recipes are presented in a great new book, Kitchen Garden Cooking with Kids, which is designed with the younger cook in mind.

Up front, parents and teachers can follow the progress of the original kitchen garden. Then there are 32 three-course menus written for children to follow, with a little supervision.

Forget dumbed-down cooking: here you'll find dishes like spicy lentil salad, roast chicken with tarragon, Jerusalem artichoke soup and peach cakes with cinnamon sugar, and each recipe is accompanied by a tempting photograph. With useful tip boxes, utensil lists, technical terms explained and red text used to highlight when adult help is needed, this is the smartest children's cookbook on the market. Even if you don't have the room to grow your own you'll still find it wonderful. Chances are your little darling will turn out a better cook than you!

Waldorf salad with variations Serves 6 at home or 16 tastes in the classroom 4 sticks celery 5 radishes 3 oranges 2 eating apples 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 1/2 cup walnut halves 1/4 cup sour cream salt freshly ground black pepper Rinse the celery sticks and radishes and pat dry. Set out the chopping board and knives. Using a small or large knife . . . whichever feels comfortable . . . carve the skin from each orange. Holding an orange in one hand, over the large bowl to catch the juice, slip the knife down one side of a single segment and then down the other side of the segment, cutting the flesh away from the membrane.

Drop the segment into the bowl.

Repeat, until all the segments are in the bowl, then work on the other oranges in the same way. As you go, squeeze the orange 'skeletons' (what is left in your hand after all the segments have been removed) so that the juice falls over the orange segments.

Using the large knife, halve the apples from top to bottom. Halve the apple pieces again. Using the small knife, remove the cores and seeds from the apple quarters and place the cores and seeds in the compost bucket. Chop the quarters into small pieces and add to the bowl with the oranges.

Slice the celery sticks crossways into 5mm slices and add to the fruit. Slice the radishes thinly and add to the bowl. Place the frying pan over a medium heat. Add the oil and walnuts and stir with the wooden spoon until the walnuts are lightly toasted.

Remove from the heat and set aside until needed. Add the sour cream to the salad ingredients and stir to mix. Taste for salt and pepper, add the toasted walnuts, then transfer the salad to the serving bowl.

'Kitchen Garden Cooking with Kids' by Stephanie Alexander is published by Penguin Lantern, /22

COOKERY COURSE

BE SPONTANEOUS and plan a lastminute dash to the coast of west Clare. From 20-22 April Berry Lodge is running a spring cookery weekend with great dishes on the menu and seriously good value to boot.

Using fresh seasonal ingredients like rhubarb, lamb, herbs and spring greens you'll whip up treats like roast lamb, rhubarb creme brulee and eggs with hollandaise sauce.

Berry Lodge is a relaxed Victorian farmhouse retreat with Rita Meade's large kitchen the heart of her welcoming home. Her cooking has been winning plaudits for over 12 years and, with the Cliffs of Moher, Lahinch and The Burren all close by, you'll have no problem walking off the excesses.

The cost is /200 per person including five hours of tuition, two nights' B&B, one dinner and one lunch (non-cooking partner: /135). Berry Lodge, Spanish Point, Miltown Malbay, Co Clare. T: 065 708 7022.

www. berrylodge. com