CHEF IN A CLASS OF HIS OWN; SCHOOL COOK PETER HAS THE RECIPE FOR SUCCESS WHEN IT COMES TO GETTING KIDS TO EAT HEALTHILY.

Byline: Maggie Mallon

KIDS are notoriously picky eaters and mums and dads sometimes despair of getting them away from a diet of chips with everything.

But one school chef has come up with a winning recipe to get children aged from two to 18 to eat their greens.

Peter Anderson, chef at Donaldson's School for the Deaf, has introduced some clever ways to persuade pupils to eat healthy food - and to love it.

When he left his job as a chef at two top Edinburgh restaurants and started working at Donaldson's three years ago, the majority of children turned their noses up at school dinners.

Now 90 per cent of them scoff his gourmet dishes, such as courgette and cumin soup, chicken and ginger stir fry, tuna kebabs and strawberry and mint tart.

"I like to get them involved in everything from visiting local farms to see where the food comes from to growing vegetables and cooking with me in the school kitchen," said the 45-year-old father of two.

Peter, who is currently shortlisted for two Scottish Education awards (SQA Education Supporter of theYear Award, and Quality Meat Scotland Health and Wellbeing Hungry for Success Award), has also created a Donaldson's Cook Book.

It includes celebrity recipes from the likes of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who suggests Rumbledethumps (Scottish "bubble and squeak" made from potato cabbage and onion), and football legend Ally McCoist, who offers his favourite Steak Balmoral.

"When I started working here, I banned all processed food and sourced local organic produce where possible," said Peter, who has inevitably been compared to Jamie Oliver. "I also discussed food issues with teachers so the work of the kitchen is included in the school curriculum.

"And there's a reward system where teams of kids collect stickers for eating healthy foods and get treats such as planning and cooking a menu."

Now he wants to share his secrets with Record readers and reveals his top 10 tips on how to get kids to try new dishes and eat a healthy, balanced diet.

TOP 10 TIPS FOR FUSSY EATERS 1. Make food fun. There are no good or bad foods, just a healthy, balanced diet. Remember that food is enjoyable. So, get children to help grow it, choose it and make it.

2. Make food look good.

It's an idea to serve up colourful meals which are a visual feast for kids as well as tasting fantastic. Put at least three different colours of vegetables on their plate and ask if they can eat all three colours.

3. Listen to your children. Respect their likes and dislikes but be firm and encourage them to eat a greater variety of foods. Reward them with praise just for trying a new food.

4. Don't put too much on their plates.

Put just a little more than they would normally eat. And say how good they are when they finish. If you pile too much on their plates, they feel like a failure if they don't finish everything.

5. Keep foods separate. Kids tend to like different vegetables and meat to be separated on the plate, so try not to mix up foods.

6. Talk to your children about healthy eating.

Explain why you should eat less fat and salt and more fruit and veg. Once they get the healthy eating message, they'll come on board.

7. Talk about green issues. Children are very aware of environmental issues, so try to shop locally and involve your kids. Your local greengrocer is probably cheaper than the supermarkets and will use less packaging. And the local butcher will advise you on the cheaper cuts of meat and how to cook them.

8. Make lots of soups. Blended, homemade soup is a great way for your children to eat loads of vegetables they wouldn't normally try. Also, you can add hidden vegetables to homemade Bolognese or tomato sauce.

9. Don't offer sweets as a comfort or reward. If you do, they'll get into a habit of thinking about sweets in this way.

10. Stop supermarket arguments. One way to stop children pestering you for sweet, salty and fatty treats at the shops is to feed them a healthy snack before you go. Involve them in the shopping and teach them how to read food labels so they learn how to make healthy choices.

Cook up a storm for the family

HERE are two of Peter's recipes that go down really well with the kids at Donaldson's.

ROAST TOMATO SAUCE This is a great sauce for pasta or you can use it to make Bolognese by adding mince.You can even use it as a soup. You could double the quantities and freeze a portion for future use.

To get more vegetables into your kids, you could grate three or four carrots, a small butternut squash or two sweet potatoes into the onions while they are frying. Once soft, add the pure.

INGREDIENTS

2kg ripe tomatoes (vine tomatoes are best)

3 red peppers

1 large onion, finely diced

A bulb of garlic separated into cloves with skin left on

3 sprigs each of thyme, Oregano and basil, roughly chopped 400g tin tomato pure

METHOD

Place tomatoes, peppers and garlic on a baking tray. Spray lightly with olive oil. Cook in a pre-heated oven at 140C or Gas Mark 1 for two to three hours or until the peppers and tomatoes are soft and their skins peeling.

Gently fry the onions in a pot sprayed with a little olive oil then add the tomato pure and herbs. Remove from heat.

Once the peppers and tomatoes are cooked, remove the seeds and skin from the peppers, keeping any juices from the peppers. Remove the skins from the garlic cloves.

Add the tomatoes, peppers, garlic and any juices to the onions and tomato pure mix. Blend until smooth with a hand blender or food processor.

If you want a smoother sauce pass the mixture through a fine sieve.

PINK FISH FINGERS

These are great for kids as salmon contains more fish oil than cod or haddock.

You can double or triple this recipe and freeze the surplus. Serves two small kids and two adults

INGREDIENTS

200g homemade breadcrumbs or natural shop bought ones

250g fresh salmon (farmed organic) 60g plain flour 

1 beaten egg (free range)

METHOD

To make the breadcrumbs put some bread in low oven (150C or Gas Mark 2) and cook until hard. Place in plastic bag and bash with rolling pin until crumbs are formed. Kids love this job.

Cut the salmon into finger shapes. Don't worry if they don't look like shop-bought ones.

Place the flour, egg and breadcrumbs into three shallow dishes. Coat the fingers first in flour, then in the egg, then in breadcrumbs.

Place on a baking tray lightly sprayed with olive oil.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C or Gas Mark 4 for 10 to 15 minutes until they start to brown. Serve with tomato ketchup or mayonnaise and lemon wedges.

FIVE HEALTHY COOKING TIPS FOR ALL THE FAMILY...

Always taste your food before adding salt.

Use herbs, garlic or lemon instead of salt.

Fill an empty spray bottle with your oil and use it instead of pricey favourite versions.

When baking, experiment reducing the amount of sugar each time by 50g until you get the minimum needed.

Bake breaded fish, chicken or chips in the oven instead of deep-frying.

CAPTION(S):

FOOD FANS: Peter and the pupils in the kitchen MENU: Peter is updating the image of school dinners