Healthy fast food your kids will love

We all know the downsides of fast food. It’s loaded with fat, especially the saturated and trans fats that clog arteries and slow hearts, it’s got too much salt, doesn’t have enough fibre or anything vaguely wholegrain, it’s served in huge portion sizes and there’s hardly a vegetable in sight.

But we’re making fast food a way of life. There are almost 17,000 outlets in Australia, and fast food represents a huge 44 per cent of all meals that are eaten out – worrying figures from a health viewpoint.

Kids love it as it’s a casual form of eating, using their hands rather than struggling with a knife and fork.

I reckon we should use their formula but create healthy homemade versions. Give those fast-food favourites a health makeover with less fat, less salt and more vegetables.

Forget battering and deep frying fish. Just coat fish fingers or pieces lightly with flour, spray with oil and oven bake. Chips can be transformed into thick wedges and made crispy in the oven. And make homemade pizza using thin rounds of Lebanese bread or a ready-made base.

Top tip: Try beefing up
Burgers are top of my list for the healthiest fast food. Make your own burgers with lean mince on regular bread rolls and add lots of tomato, lettuce, onion and cucumber.

Fish fingers with herbed wedges
The kids will stop asking for takeaway if you make them healthy fast food-style meals. Try this recipe for homemade fish fingers with yummy herbed wedges Get this recipe