It’s easy 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, locally-inspired breakfast, or looking for a shortcut to dinner (skip to end of post), 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) or peponi (honey-sweet melon) and peaches. Tip – instead of Fage (the popular Greek yoghurt brand internationally), try local brands like Complete by Delta for a more luscious taste and texture.
- Honey and butter on toast– healthier than a Nutella spread and just as satisfying. Avocados are usually readily available in supermarkets as well.
- Sliced apples drizzled with honey and a dash of cinnamon powder.
- Sliced cucumbers with white wine vinegar and salt – sounds hard core, but a popular snack for kids in Greece.
- Spanakopita (spinach pie) 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 too 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 giant doughnut shaped ring of semi-sweet bread. Also available at bakeries.
- and fruit! Forget packaged food. Pop by a fruit stand or supermarket for fruits bursting with flavour like nature intended. Picnic-friendly fruit for the beach available in summer (depending on the month you visit) include: apricots, pears, peaches (the donut type is easy for small mouths to bite into), plums, nectarines and cherries.
TAVERNA APPETIZERS & SIDES
- Kolokithakia – lightly-fried zucchini chips that rival the 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 recipe that’s hard to mess up, even for me.
- Dips aside from tzatziki (cucumber-yoghurt dip)? Fava (hummus-like yellow split pea puree), melitzanosalata (roasted eggplant dip)
TAVERNA MAINS
- Pastitsio – Greek lasagna topped with béchamel cream sauce .
- Burger and meatball equivalents: bifteki (a burger without the bread), keftedes (fried meatballs) and soutzoukakia (long-ish meatballs in red sauce).
- Meats in red sauce options: rooster in red wine sauce with pasta is a personal favourite. Moschari kokkinisto is a beef stew, again served with pasta, rice or fries.
- Souvlaki – pork or chicken grilled and served on a stick.
- Gigantes plaki – giant sized white beans oven baked in a tomato based sauce with a creamy, buttery texture. Easy to mash for weaning babies. Fasolakia, a green bean stew, (especially delicious when using a broad and flat green bean variety called Romano) is also good for pureeing.
- Kotopoulo lemonato (oven-baked lemon chicken and potatoes) – the Greek-take on the classic 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
- Fried calamari is a seafood taverna staple for us, along with:
- Grilled sardelles (sardines) – 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. Often fried and served as an appetizer. Again, try this in place of potato fries.
- Barbounia (red mullet) – a small fish type, also on the oilier side. Typically fried and sweet to taste.
- Fagri (when available) – delicately sweet and a winner for my fussy-with-fish children. Best grilled. How to pick the freshest catch? Look for bright eyes, shiny scales and red gills.
- Shrimp pasta, crayfish pasta, or lobster pasta
MEALS OF ULTIMATE CONVENIENCE: THE MAGEIREIO & PITA GYROS SHOP
Too tired to deal with the restaurant experience with kids on the verge of a meltdown? Aside from pizza, there are always pita gyros (pita bread stuffed with meat slices and fries) wraps to go. These are usually available in fast food spots, speciality stores and grill houses. Also good to know is the “mageireio”, a home-style kitchen with ready-cooked food (e.g. moussaka, oven backed chicken or lamb, vegetable stews) that gets dished out for takeaway.
