Handy as a packed lunch. Send your children off with a sausage pasta salad.

Parents are always feeling guilty. Not only do they worry about feeding their children the right food, while they are bombarded with an onslaught of unhealthy horrors through both advertising and peer pressure, but also - especially when both parents are holding down busy jobs - it's oh, so much easier just to slap a ready meal in the microwave.

Now, however, two busy women, Angela Nilsen and Jeni Wright, have come to the rescue by collecting together 101 Recipes For Kids (BBC Books, £4.99) Tried and tested, the recipes include familiar favourites such as banana splits and fairy cakes as well as introducing more exotic dishes to tempt modern young palates such as Chinese egg-fried rice and Mexican tortilla wraps.

Nilsen says: "Temptation is all around - so it's easy for kids to end up eating too many high fat, high sugar, high salt, high additive, ready-made snacks and meals, especially when parents feel they don't always have time to pay as much attention as they would like to what the children are eating.

"But start young by offering children a good balance and a variety of healthy foods. Get the children involved in the choosing and shopping so they are aware of what they are eating. Then make time to eat and share each meal."

Co-author Wright says: "With this book you'll never be stuck for ideas when your children say, We're starving! What can we eat?' Many of the recipes can be made by the children themselves with or without a little adult help."

Serves two.

Time: 25 minutes, plus cooling.

Nutrition per portion: 244 kcalories, protein 8.6g, carbohydrate 36.1g, fat 8.3g, saturated fat 2.3g, fibre 1.8g, sugar 2.4g, salt 0.95g.

Ingredients

2 chipolata sausages

85g/3oz dried fusilli or other short pasta shape

2tsp olive oil

2 cherry tomatoes, cut into wedges

2 spring onions, finely chopped

2tbsp home-made or ready-made tomato salsa

Method

Heat the grill to high and grill the sausages for about 15 minutes or until cooked through, turning them occasionally. Leave to cool then slice into bite-sized pieces.

Cook the pasta in a pan of boiling water for 8-10 minutes or according to the packet instructions, until tender. Drain into a sieve and hold under the cold tap till cool.

Shake the pasta well to remove excess water, then tip into a bowl and stir in the oil to prevent the shapes sticking together. Mix in the sausages, tomatoes, onions and salsa. Taste for seasoning.

Nilsen says: "Packed with slow-release carbohydrates this salad combines two kids' favourites: sausage and pasta, and packed into airtight containers makes a handy packed lunch."

RAINBOW RICE

Serves two big kids or four small ones.

Time: 30 minutes.

Nutrition information per portion based on two servings: 225 kcalories, protein 5g, carbohydrate 32g, fat 14.5g, saturated fat 1.5g, fibre 3g, added sugar none, salt 0.035g.

Ingredients

100g/4oz basmati, long grain or brown rice

1 small red pepper, seeded and finely chopped

cucumber, seeded and finely chopped

1 large carrot, grated

6 dried apricots, chopped

2tbsp toasted pumpkin or sunflower seeds

2tbsp olive oil

Juice half an orange

Method

Cook the rice according to the packet instructions. Drain, rinse and drain again.

Tip the rice into a large bowl and add all the other ingredients. Mix well and season to taste.

Wright says: "A healthy dish that's high in vitamin C, this colourful rice salad is a good way of getting lots of veggies and seeds into a child's diet."

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