Although my two boys are different in many many ways, in the ways of food they are the same - they love it. I think they get that from me. The only way they differ with their food consumption is that I couldn't get my first to eat finger foods for the life of me, he was happy with purees until well after his first birthday, while this guy has been feeding himself since close to eight months old. The biggest challenge I'm having with him, though, is getting him to eat vegetables. He'll eat them if I puree them or if they're in stews etc..., but chunks of veggies he just will not have. He'll look at his tray of colourful bits and wail. I've tried carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, sweet potatoes, peas, green beans, you name it. Then it came to me...this kid can't get enough of hummus and bean dip and guacamole. So enter the breads and spreads.
We've recently started him on non-gluten grains and have found a fantastic vegan quinoa bread at our local health food store. Spread the bread (or rice cake, cracker etc...) with any concoction (or toss with gluten-free pasta) and you've got yourself a happy veggie-eating baby!
Yummy Root Veggie Spreads
1 cup cubed veggies (carrots, parsnip, sweet potato, turnip, beets etc...)
2 tbsp sunflower seed butter or tahini (once these have been safely introduced)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp fresh parsley
Steam the vegetables until soft. (Steam extra and set some aside as finger foods at this stage if your child is happy to take them.) Mix all ingredients in a food processor or blender. Serve on bread, crackers, rice cakes etc... The spread can also be tossed with pasta if thinned out a bit with water, breastmilk, rice milk etc... The spread will last about 3 days in the fridge or make a big batch and freeze in ice cube trays as you would a homemade puree.
Other variations:
- Add chickpeas or other beans to make a vegetable hummus or bean dip
- Change up the fresh herb to change the flavour - try basil, mint, cilantro...
- Add other veggies - broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, kale etc...
- Change up the nut/seed butter and use pumpkin seed butter, almond butter etc....
Kale Pesto with Sunflower Seeds
3 tightly packed cups fresh kale, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup olive oil or flaxseed oil
1/2 cup raw, unsalted sunflower seeds
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
Place all ingredients, except oil, in food processor. Mix roughly - add a little water if it is not mixing well. You will have to periodically push the mixture down to get it to mix. Keep running processor on slow speed and slowly add the oil. Blend well. Again, this will only last a few days in the fridge so freeze unused portions in ice cube trays.
