Good food is an integral part of an enjoyable holiday. And with its bounty of beautiful seasonal ingredients, it’s not difficult to feed children well on the road in Greece. Whether you’re navigating a taverna menu for a Bolognese pasta taste-alike (quick answer: Pastitsio), assembling an easy breakfast (or dinner? Barba Stathis’ ubiquitous brand of frozen vegetable combinations for a spread of Greek recipes go straight from freezer to pot) in your Airbnb, or just looking for new ways to help your littlies love Greece, we list some tips and sometimes-healthy ideas for feeding first eaters and beyond in the land renowned for its culinary heritage.
BREAKFAST, DESSERT & SNACKS
- Greek yoghurt, honey and walnuts – a true combination of superfoods. Add fresh figs when in season (late August to early September).
- Honey and butter on toast– healthier than a Nutella spread, and (almost) as satisfying.
- Sliced apples drizzled with honey and a dash of cinnamon powder.
- Sliced cucumbers with white wine vinegar – sounds hard core, but it’s a popular snack for kids in Greek households.
- Spanakopita (spinach pie) – always available from a local bakery. Baby D doesn’t like spinach much, but somehow she loves spanakopita. Nice-to-know: Filo pastry, used in most Greek pastries, does not contain saturated fat. Just flour, water and olive oil.
- If spinach is overly-ambitious, try tiropita, a feta cheese-filled pastry. Feta is a healthy sheep and/or goat milk cheese that’s comparatively low in fat, nutrient dense, and a probiotic.
- Koulouri – a sesame-sprinkled ring of bread that’s delightfully crunchy on the outside, this crowd-pleaser is also available at bakeries.
- and fruit! Forget packaged food. Pop into a fruit stand or supermarket for fruits bursting with flavour like nature intended. Picnic-friendly fruit for the beach you will be able to find in summer (depending on the month you visit) include apricots, pears, peaches (the donut type is sweet and easy for small mouths to bite into), plums, and cherries. Refrigerate and pack into a cooler bag with a paring knife.
TAVERNA APPETIZERS & SIDES
- Kolokithakia – lightly-fried zucchini chips that possibly taste better than a potato chip. Always a hit.
- Tomatokeftedes (tomato balls / fritters) and kolokithokeftedes (zucchini balls / fritters) – more fried vegetables that taste un-vegetable-like. Try it at home with this baked, not fried, recipe that’s hard to mess up, even for me.
- Dips and pita bread – fava (hummus-like yellow split pea puree), melitzanosalata (roasted eggplant dip) and tzatziki (cucumber-yoghurt dip), of course.
TAVERNA MAINS
- Pastitsio – spaghetti Bolognese or lasagna with a béchamel cream sauce on top.
- Burger and meatball equivalents: bifteki (a burger without the bread), keftedes (fried meatballs) and soutzoukakia (long-ish meatballs in red sauce).
- More meat in red sauce options: Lagos stifado (wild rabbit stew). Cooked in a ton of shallots for beautifully intense flavour, rabbit is a lean meat high in protein and iron. You might find kouneli stifado on the menu instead. This is also rabbit, just not wild. Rooster in red wine sauce with pasta is another personal favourite.
- Fasolakia– a green bean stew usually using a broad and flat green bean variety (Romano). It actually tastes like pasta to me when cooked, making me want to eat my greens too.
- Gigantes plaki – Giant sized white beans in a tomato based sauce with a creamy, buttery texture. Easy to mash for weaning babies.
- Kotopoulo lemonato (oven-baked lemon chicken and potatoes) is the Greek-take on roast chicken.
- For our small Asian friends: Yemista – tomatoes and peppers stuffed with rice. Or Lahanodolmades avgolemono – stuffed (with ground meat and rice) cabbage rolls in an egg-lemon sauce.
SEAFOOD LOVE
- Grilled sardelles (sardines) – so tasty when fresh and full of omega-3 fatty acids. As small fish, they also don’t accumulate as much contaminants (sardines have one of the lowest mercury levels amongst fish).
- Gavros (fried anchovies) – another small, oily and tasty fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Often fried and served as an appetizer. Again, try this in place of potato fries.
- Barbounia (red mullet) – a fish type also on the oilier side and a source of omega-3. Typically fried and sweet to taste.
- Fagri – deliciously sweet and a favourite for both my children who are fussy with fish. Best grilled.
- Astakomakaronada (lobster pasta) – lobster is actually packed with nutrients, and can be a good meal choice as long as it’s not drowning in butter.
And if most things are not working out, there’s always pita gyros (bite-sized meat slices stuffed with fries and tomato slices). Often available from a take-out stand, it’s our pizza alternative for nights in.
