Kale and Potato Lettuce Cups with Orange Vinaigrette! Fresh and delicious lettuce cups made with Dr. Praeger’s new Kale Littles! Kale, potatoes and onions packed into adorable shapes to help your kids eat more veggies!
Recently, I was telling someone what I did when my children’s eating habits changed once they turned two. Both girls, like many babies, were great eaters and when we moved on to solids, ate everything I would place in front of them. But then they turned two and everything changed. Why does that happen? Why age 2?
With my first daughter, I of course freaked out a little. Why was my great eater suddenly turning away her favorite peas or not wanting and even not liking the smell of cheese anymore? I became a short order cook and would make two dinners every night. One for my daughter and one for my husband and I. This would not last long because making one dinner is hard enough. I learned to still stick to my guns as much as possible and still introduce new foods to Phoebe. We had the take 3 bites and if you don’t like it, you don’t have to eat it rule.
I still made the foods I knew she would eat and love but I also kept introducing new foods to her. And I always gave her veggies in some form for dinner. She fell in love with pesto (spinach and basil pesto), veggies blended up in a soup, roasted vegetables, raw veggies with ranch dressing and anything in a lettuce cup.
There were times I questioned these kids were mine when they refused to eat macaroni and cheese or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches . . these were foods I grew up eating and loved. But they love pasta, any Asian food and now love leeks, green onions and brussels sprouts so we’re good now.
Getting our kids to eat their veggies. That’s what it’s all about, right?
I really believe that if our kids don’t have vegetables growing up, they’re not going to want them later in life. So, the years when they are young and developing their eating habits are crucial. I’m no expert but this is what I believe.
Recently, we tried Dr. Praeger’s Kale Littles. The only time I have been successful in having my kids (and my husband) eat kale is when I’ve thrown it into a smoothie, or hidden it in a lasagna or Korean kimchi soup.
These adorable shaped little bites are packed with kale, potato and onions. Your kids will love these because they are fun and they are a great alternative to chicken nuggets or fish sticks. My youngest seems to eat anything in a lettuce cup so I had the idea of serving them this way.
I also made a delicious orange vinaigrette dressing which they loved and added a nice citrusy brightness to these lettuce cups.
Dr Praeger’s also makes Spinach Littles, Sweet Potato Littles and veggie burgers which I love. You can read more about them here.
So, next time you want to change up dinner for the kids (or the big kids in your family), give these lettuce cups a try! They are fresh, delicious and packed with veggies!
Kale and Potato Lettuce Cups with Orange Vinaigrette
Ingredients
For the dressing:
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 2 tablespoons brown rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons honey
For the lettuce cups:
- 1/2 box Dr. Praeger's Kale Littles
- lettuce leaves you can use Boston Bibb, Romaine, or Green leaf + more for salad
- 1 to 2 carrots peeled and julienned
- 1/2 cup raw fennel shaved or thinly sliced with a mandoline
- 1/4 cup radicchio or red cabbage shaved or thinly sliced with a mandoline
- 1 to 2 raw radishes thinly sliced
- 1/3 cup orange pieces for garnish
- fresh cilantro for garnish
Instructions
For the dressing:
- Place everything into a bowl and whisk together. Alternatively, you can place all ingredients into a mason jar. Cover with lid and shake well until combined.*
For the lettuce cups:
- Bake kale littles according to package instructions. Oven, toaster oven or skillet will give you a slightly crispier exterior.
- While the kale littles are baking, prepare the slaw: separate out the lettuce leaves for the "cups" and shred up the remaining lettuce to mix in with the other veggies. Combine the shredded lettuce (you only need about a 1/2 or 3/4 cup) with the carrots, fennel, radicchio and radishes. Toss together.
- You can drizzle lightly with some of the dressing, or just top the entire lettuce cup with the dressing later.
- To assemble: lay out your lettuce leaves onto a platter and top with the "salad" or "slaw". Place one Kale Little on top of each one. Drizzle on some orange vinaigrette dressing and garnish with some orange pieces and fresh cilantro. Enjoy immediately.
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post in partnership with Dr. Praeger’s. All opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting me in working with the brands and products that I use and love.
What a fantastic way to get kids (and adults!) to eat their veggies! These lettuce cups sound so good. My husband can be a picky eater, but I think he would love this too, especially with that orange vinaigrette!
Thank you, Gayle!!! I agree! Sometimes adults need some veggie inspiration too! 🙂
Those kale littles are SO cute and such a perfect way to get kiddos to eat their veggies! I NEED these lettuce wraps in my life this week!
Hi Sarah!!! Yes, you need to try these!!! 🙂
Delicious and healthy: I love it! Such a great idea, I wanted to try lettuce cups before but this has given me so much more recipe inspiration.
Vivian, oh yes! You need to try these! I also have other lettuce cup recipes on my blog. . we love lettuce cups at my house! Such a great, low carb way to enjoy foods!
I’ve never seen kale littles before, but they are SO cute! I don’t have children, but their fun shape is totally speaking to the little kid in me! 😉 Love these lettuce wraps, Alice! Delicious and adorable, plus that orange vinaigrette sounds like a fantastic addition! Cheers, friend!
Those spinach shapes and the Dr. Praeger’s fishies are lifesavers for dinner sometimes when my kids will eat nothing and I just want them to have some nutrition. I can’t cook a meal that will make all three of them happy, so I’ve kind of given up. Eat some protein, eat some healthy grains, go away! 🙂
I’m loving lettuce cups every day of the week. Gonna try these!
Oh these kale littles are super cute!! Great way to make kids eat their veggies! love the orange vinaigrette Alice!!
Oh wow – those Kale Littles are just adorable! Heck – Alice, they look so enticing, even I want to chow down on them!
They are so adorable. I wouldn’t mind having one of those. So good Alice. I need to look for this and the vinaigrette, so yum.
The same thing happened to my boys, Alice, and I had to find creative ways or healthier frozen foods that would appeal to my boys (we had a major frozen alphabet french fry phase). 🙂 I love these kale littles! They’re so adorable and I would’ve loved serving them to my kids back then…or popping a bunch in these delicious lettuce wraps myself!
So cute! I love anything kale and I love how you included them in these wraps 🙂
This is such a fab way to eat more veggies! My niece would love these too.
We are big fans of lettuce cups as a nice low carb alternative too.
I love lettuce wraps and could eat them every day. Never seen those kale littles before, but they look so cute! Who wouldn’t want to eat ’em? Your orange vinaigrete sounds lovely. Always important to have a nice sauce or garnish, isn’t it? Makes the whole thing even better. I wouldn’t mind eating these wrap myself!
I love lettuce cups and these are such a fantastic way to get the kiddos to eat their veggies!
These are so fun! I know my kids would love these — they love alllll the green things! And the shapes are so cute! Such a great way to make a meal out of them Alice!
These look so cute and I would love to try the potato kale combination! Perfect way to get kids into veggies!
I love a good lettuce cup! Those kale littles look like a great snack.
These kale littles are adorable! My son is now the picky eater in the family too and won’t eat most of the veggies he used to as a toddler but I’m pretty sure he would love these! So fun served in the lettuce cups too!
These are so cute! I love it. My son, now 8 months, is a great eater. I am having so much fun making his baby foods and seeing what he will try. Everything– I have been thinking since he was pregnant how to make sure he’s a healthy eater– so I ate a wide variety of vegetables while I was pregnant, and made sure I ate super healthy while breastfeeding, and now am giving him all of my favorite whole grains, veggies, proteins, and fruit… but I have heard that two is a hard year! It’s when babies start to want to assert their control- and what they put in their mouths is control! I’ve heard it’s harder with girls- boys just want to eat and get back to playing. Let’s hope that’s the case with my little guy 🙂 Pinning this on my Nutrition for Kids board!
Hi Michelle, just keep doing what you are doing. . sounds fabulous! and thank you so much!
WOW! Didn’t know these kale littles were even a thing…I just remember back when I was a kid my parents would always buy dino nuggets from Costco and they were my favorite 😉
hi Joleen, haha, my parents didn’t even buy the dino nuggets .. we got regular ole chicken nuggets and fish sticks! 😛 so many great options for kids now!