The Times Online, Kids In The Kitchen - June 2009

As a parent I found fairly quickly that anything that involved piecing together bits of ingredients and building into some form of food to be eagerly stuffed into the mouth was the key to getting my daughter to eat new food. Breadsticks and rice cakes, houmous and spready cheese to act as ‘glue' and a multitude of raw vegetables were all that was needed to make tea time fun time.

An instant hit were the famous Mexican food of fajitas and they still remain a favourite. Easy to make and eat, I call this kind of food ‘fun food'; so no pretensions and certainly no seriousness in either the making or the eating of them.

As an alternative to meat, we often make refried beans or ‘chocolate beans' as my daughter has renamed them. The South American tradition of adding raw cacao to their savoury foods may seem unusual to the Western palate, but a spoonful of cocoa powder or a grating of 80% chocolate in my chilli or refried beans has always been the secret ingredient to deliciousness. Or at least it was. Try it with the kids, get building together then demolish.

Chocolate Beans

1 onion, finely chopped
1 small red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped or a pinch of dried chilli
1 clove of garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
1x 400g tin of kidney, haricot or borlotti beans
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
50g Cheddar cheese, grated
1 tbsp of cocoa powder or finely grated 80% proof chocolate
Juice of 1 lime
Salt and pepper
A handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped

1 - Heat the olive oil in a pan and add the onion, chilli and garlic. Stir and cook for 5 minutes until softened.
2 - Add the beans, cumin and oregano and a splash of water. Bring to the boil then simmer for 5 minutes until softened. Mash roughly with a potato masher or a fork. If it seems dry add a little more water.
3 - Stir in the cheese, cocoa powder or chocolate, lime juice and fresh coriander and taste for seasoning. Serve with warmed tortilla, salad, grated cheese and salsa.