Sweet potato, chickpea and cauliflower mash

Ingredients:

• 3 Tbsp chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
• 1 small sweet potato
• 8 small cauliflower florets

Directions:

• If cooking your own chickpeas, soak them overnight in cold water.  Drain and rinse them in fresh water.  Place them in a saucepan, cover with water, and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer for about 1 hour until the chickpeas are soft.  If using canned chickpeas, drain them well.  Puree with a little water as needed.
• Meanwhile, steam the sweet potato and cauliflower for about 15 minutes until tender.
• Mash the vegetables and mix in with the pureed chickpeas.

*Taken from The Big Book of Recipes for Babies, Toddlers, & Children*

Spinach Dahl

Ingredients:

• red lentils (1/2 cup, rinsed and drained)
• Basmati or long grain rice (2 Tbsp, rinsed and drained)
• red bell pepper (1/2, cored, deseeded, and sliced)
• olive oil (1 tsp)
• pinch ground cumin
• pinch ground coriander
• pinch mixed herbs
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 1 cup chopped spinach
• 2 Tbsp cammed tomatoes, chopped

Directions:

• Place lentils, rice, red bell pepper, oil, spices, herbs, and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Cover and simmer for about 25 minutes until rice is tender.
• Take out 2 slices of red bell pepper.  Stire in the spinach and tomatoes and cook for a further 2-3 minutes, until spinach had wilted.
• Mash with a fork.  Serve with the 2 slices of bell pepper as finger food.

*Taken from The Big Book of Recipes for Babies, Toddlers, & Children*

Squah & Quinoa Pilaf

Ingredients:

• quinoa (1/2 cup)
• extra-virgin olive oil (2 Tbsp)
• baby's stock or water (1 1/2 cups)
• summer squashes or zucchini (2 small, coursely shredded)
• ground cumin (1/2 tsp)

Directions:

• In a saucepan, toss quinoa in 1 Tbsp of oil to coat.  Add stock and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Reduce heat to low, cover and summer for 20 minutes.  Quinoa will be translucent.
• While quinoa is cooking, in a small frying pan over medium-high heat, heat remaining 1 Tbsp olive oil.  Add squash and cumin and saute until tender, 3-5 minutes.
• Remove quinoa from heat.  Add squash to quinoa and mix thoroughly before serving.

*Taken from Cooking for Baby*

Millet & Zucchini Medley

Ingredients:

• millet (1/2 cup)
• zucchini puree (1/3 cup)
• apple puree (2 Tbsp)
• fresh basil (1/4 cup, finely chopped)

Directions:

• In a saucepan over high heat, bring 2 cups water to boil.  Add millet, cover, reduce heat to low, and cook until water is absorbed, 35-45 minutes.
• Fluff with a fork.  You should have about 2 cups cooked millet.  Divide millet evenly between 2 containers and refigerate or freeze half for later use.  Stir zucchini and apple purees into remaining millet, let cool, and stire in basil just before serving.

*Taken from Cooking for Baby*

Asparagus "Risotto"

Ingredients:

• Arborio rice (1/2 cup)
• Baby's Stock or water (1 cup)
• extra-virgin olive oil or unsalted butter (1 tsp)
• fresh tarragon (2 tsp minced) - can substitute with margoram
• asparagus puree (1/3-2/3 cup)

Directions:

• Put rice, stock and oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and cook stirring once, until liquid has been absorbed and rice is thick and creamy, about 15 minutes.  Remove saucepan from heat, stire in tarragon, and let stand, covered for 10 minutes.  Fluff rice with fork, stire in asparagus puree.

*Taken from Cooking for Baby*

Barley & Mushrooms

Ingredients:

• pearl barley (1/2 cup)
• unsalted butter (1 Tbsp)
• garlic (1 clove, minced)
• cremini mushrooms (2 cups, finally chopped)
• Baby's Stock (1 cup)
• salt (1/4 tsp)
• pepper (1/8 tsp)
• thyme (1/8 tsp)

Directions:

• In a dry saucepan over mediam heat, toast barley, stirring often, until it starts to brown, about 2 minutes.  Transfer to a mixing bowl.
• In same saucepan over medium heat, melt butter.  Add garlic and cook until aromatic, about 1 minute.  Stir in mushrooms and cook until they relase their liquid and become tender, about 3 minutes.  Stir in barley, stock, 1/3 cup water, salt, pepper, and thyme.  Bring to a buil over high heat, reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until barley is tender, 30-35 minutes.

*Taken from Cooking for Baby*

Baby's Stock

Ingredients:

• asparagus (6 spears)
• leek (1 large, cut into chunks)
• sweet potato (1/2 peeled and cut into chunks)

Directions:

• Put 4 cups cold water in a medium pot.  Add aspargus, leek and sweet potato and bring to a boil over high head.  Reduce heat to maintin a gentle simmer, and cover pot.  Simmer until vegetavles are very soft and cooking liquid is lightly flavored and colors, about 1 hour.
• Strain the broth through a sieve, reserving vegetables.  The vegetables can be pureed or mashed for baby.  Serve stock lukewarm in a cup or bottle, or use in other recupies.

*Taken from Cooking for Baby*