You and your little gardeners have been hard at work planting, watering, and caring for your garden. Now it’s time for your kiddos to enjoy the fruits (or veggies!) of their labor.

You have likely chosen to teach your kids to grow their own food for a number of reasons, but one of them is because you want to instill healthy eating in your little ones. Studies show that children who learn to grow, harvest, and prepare food themselves have healthier eating habits later in life (Milken Institute School of Public Health).

Now that your family is ready to harvest your plants, how can you get the kids excited to eat their veggies?! With a fun healthy summer recipe for kids of course!

Garden-to-Table Pizza Faces

The goal of this recipe is to make harvesting and eating veggies more about laughs, quality time, and a belly full of good eats. It’s time to turn those little gardeners into mini chefs. We encourage you to let your kids help you prepare this recipe, as children are more likely to eat food that they prepared themselves (National Library of Medicine).

Pro tip: Sneaking a bite or two in the food prep process is perfectly acceptable mini chef behavior.

For this fun summer recipe, you will need the following ingredients:

• English Muffins or Pita Bread
• ½ Cup of Pizza Sauce
• 1 Cup of Shredded Mozzarella
• Sliced Tomato (Roma Tomato, Large Red Cherry Tomato, or Sungold Cherry Tomato)
• Bell Pepper (Sliced)
• Freckle Lettuce (Torn into Small Pieces)
• Baby Broccoli
• White Sprouting Cauliflower
• Bunching Onion
• Diva Cucumber

Or any veggies from your Leaf’d Box subscription that you think would taste great on a pizza! Just make sure they would make great features for your pizza “faces” also.

Instructions

Step 1: Prepare the Base of Your Pizza “Face”

Gather your English muffins or pita bread and give one to each child. Have them spread pizza sauce onto each mini pizza base. Careful! This step might get messy!

Step 2: Sprinkle Mozzarella

Mozzarella is an important aspect of any pizza. Kids can choose as much or as little cheese as they like.

Step 3: Cut Up the Vegetables

For older kids, you may allow them to cut the vegetables themselves. For younger kids, you can cut the vegetables for them. But ask them which ones they think would make a great “nose” or “eyes” or “lips” and slice accordingly.

Step 4: Design The Pizza Faces

Now for the fun part! Decorating the pizza base to make faces with the sliced veggies. Kids can use pepper for eyebrows, broccoli for hair, or lettuce for a mustache. Encourage kids to make their favorite emojis or characters – give their pizza faces emotions and personalities! Every pizza will be unique.

Step 5: Bake the Pizza Faces

Once the kids are finished creating their pizza people, it’s time to pop them in the oven at 400°F for about 8 to 10 minutes, until the cheese is a bit bubbly.

Step 6: Enjoy the Taste of a Job Well Done

Once the pizzas have cooled slightly, let your kids enjoy eating the healthy vegetables that they grew in their very own garden. Nothing tastes better than food your child has grown, harvested, and prepared themselves!

For more fun recipes for kids like this one, visit Leaf’d Box’s Recipes Page.