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 Like
most busy mothers, Sian
Blunos wanted to feed her baby well, but
as a trained chef, working alongside her Michelin-starred
chef husband, she didn’t have a lot of free time.
This is one of the recipes she has created and
published in her book entitled Cooking
for Coco - to find out more have a look
at the articler under Interesting Bites <click
here>
"Babies
tend to like both parsnips and sweet potatoes
as they contain a lot of natural sugars so they
make ideal first foods. Sweet potatoes have a
much higher concentration of vitamins, minerals
and antioxidants than normal potatoes".
Ingredients
1
ounce butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, peeled and chopped
1 small clove garlic, peeled and chopped
2 sweet potatoes (approximately 1 pound), washed
and cut into small dice
1 large parsnip (approximately 10 ounces), washed
and cut into dice
1/2 cup red lentils, washed in cold water and
drained
1 tablespoon tomato purée
10 - 12 ounces water or unsalted vegetable stock
Method
- In
a saucepan, melt the butter and oil over a medium
heat. Add the onion and garlic and fry gently
for about 2 minutes, until the onions are soft.
Add all the other ingredients apart from the
water or vegetable stock and fry for another
2 minutes.
- Pour
enough water or stock into the saucepan to cover
the vegetable mixture and bring to the boil.
Simmer for 25 minutes over a medium heat, stirring
occasionally. Add more water or stock if necessary.
- Remove
the pan from the heat and strain the vegetable
mixture over a bowl. Reserve the liquid. Blend
the vegetable mixture in a processor or blender.
Add a little of the reserved liquid to correct
the texture if necessary.
- Leave
on the side to cool. Divide into portions and
serve or freeze.
Technique
Tip:
With
most of these recipes you can use a food processor
or blender to produce a puréed mixture. However,
if you are using potatoes, you should add them
as small dice just before serving. If they are
blended, the starch they contain causes them to
break down into a gluey mess.
As
your baby grows and has more teeth, you can mash
or chop the food instead. The textures will encourage
your baby to chew. You will be the best judge
of when you can start to do this.
Preparation
time: 40 minutes
Makes 6 - 8 portions
Sian
Blunos
©
Cooking for Coco, Sian Blunos 2003
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