Invasion of the Martians

I'm not one for recipes, really. Apart from soup-making in winter, I'm a fairly utilitarian cook. I only do it when I have to, and I like to keep it simple. There's one recipe, though, that has been a family favourite since my kids were little – and which they still love to this day, despite being in their late 20s.

It was how I could get my kids to eat their greens. Dished up with a side-serve of drama -(alien voice) “Take me to your leader” - the kids loved it, and I didn't have to resort to plonking a vitamin C tablet next to their chicken nuggets in lieu of vegies, and telling them "eat your vegetable substitute pill, children, so Mummy won't have to worry about malnutrition and scurvy, and you will grow big and strong."

To make Martian Sausages, you need Martians, although they're kind of hard to get, out of season. And sausages. Or, more accurately, sausage skins. You squish the little Martians into them and tie off the ends. Then you boil them in oil, ignoring their little Martian screams. Muwahahahaha!

Ok, just kidding. No Martians are harmed in my recipe, which should, more correctly, be called 'Faux Martian Sausages' – but I didn't want to make my children appear pretentious by giving them the odd French word to throw into their kindergarten conversations. Also, the little fiends probably quite liked thinking they were eating Martians, and telling them they weren't would have been akin to telling them there was no Santa.

So – what are these faux Martian Sausages?

Make a giant pot of delicious, creamy, mashed potato (not too soft and creamy – the antennae need to stand in it). Stir into it some finely chopped cooked silverbeet - organic from your own garden if possible, like this stuff:

That will give it a lovely green Martian tinge.

Add a handful of grated cheese and some cracked black pepper, and stir it all up. Put a big blob of it in a bowl, and add sausage antennae and cherry tomato eyeballs.

"Take me to your leader".
Noms!