Motherfood cooking course: session three

The final session covers a very exciting new stage in your family’s life - eating together with your child. All of the recipes in this session, as well as in the entire course, are easily adaptable to suit various stages of weaning, as well as for older children. We also cover the emotional and social aspect of food and how to ensure an easeful and joyful dynamic around the table. 

Recipe one: Dhal

Serves 4-6
2 tbsp of coconut oil 
1 tsp of mustard seeds
1 bay leaf
1 onion peeled and diced
3 garlic cloves, peeled and diced
1 thumb of ginger, peeled and finely diced or grated 
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder 
1 tsp turmeric powder
3-4 medium carrots, peeled and diced 
1/2 butternut squash, peeled, cored and diced 
1 sweet potato, peeled and diced 
250g red lentils 
500-600ml of stock (you can use the chicken stock recipe from lesson 1, or a stock cube)
salt to taste

Method

Heat up the oil in a large casserole or a pot. 
Fry to the mustard seeds and the bay leaf for a few seconds until it starts popping and releases the aroma.
Add the onion, ginger and garlic, as well as all the spices and two pinches of fine salt. 
Fry for 8-10 minutes, adding more oil and a few dashes of water to prevent the spices from burning.
Next add the diced carrots and cook under a lid for 5 minutes.
Add the squash, sweet potato and the lentils. Give it a good stir. 
Cover with the stock. Place the lid back on and let it cook for 35-40 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding more water if the stew thickens too much or starts burning at the bottom.
Remove the bay leaf and roughly mash using a stick blender to get a mixed consistency of smooth and chunky.
Give it another good stir and get ready to serve.

serving suggestions
Top with coconut or dairy yoghurt, tahini paste, harissa, nigella seeds, soft boiled egg and some fresh dill

variations
You can use yellow lentils too, as well as any other root vegetables here (turnip, swede, parsnip). Feel free to add some chickpeas as well as spinach if you want to increase the nutrient value.

baby weaning ideas
There is no reason why your baby can’t be exposed to fragrant spices like cumin and coriander early on, so let them enjoy it! You can however omit or reduce the ginger and garlic if you would like to serve this dish at stage 1 of weaning. Similar for the salt, and you can season your own portions with salt after cooking. If you’d like to blend this into a puree for stage 1 take out the needed amount and blend until smooth. The original texture would work really well for stages 2 and 3.  

Recipe two: frittata

Makes 6-9 slices

6 eggs
2 pinches of salt
1/2 tsp soda bicarb
1 tsp of turmeric powder
1 tbsp of yoghurt
100g (roughly) of cooked potatoes or any cooked vegetable
100g (roughly) of cooked salmon
200g defrosted peas
100-200g fresh spinach
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C.
Place the eggs in a large bowl with salt, soda, turmeric and yoghurt. Give the mix a very good whisk using an electric whisker or a stick blender.
Next add all your vegetables, drizzle with oil and mix again.
Line a backing dish with parchment paper and pour out the frittata mixture. Make sure all the vegetables are evenly distributed.
Bake for 30 minutes until well-cooked in the middle and the top is golden brown.
Serving suggestions this frittata works so well in a pita bread or a flat bread with hummus, yogurt, chilli flakes and some fresh herbs.

variations

This is the best dish for using any left over ingredients in your fridge, so literally ANYTHING will do here. Have a look at the flavour wheel and see what takes your fancy. Both variations on the salmon dish work really well in this frittata, if you go for the Asian one, then swap the turmeric for 2 tbsp of soy sauce. And I am yet to find a better dish for salvaging the last bits of a Sunday roast!

weaning ideas
This used to be my go to dish for my daughter from around 7 months, as it is packed full of flavour and nutrients of all groups. Omit the salt and blend all the ingredients into one smooth batter to begin with and then increase the texture as you go along. You don’t need to use all of the ingredients at the same time and can opt for a green frittata using just the peas and spinach, for example. Cut into small triangles or batons and serve with some yogurt for dipping.

Recipe three: beet and bean stew

Serves 4-6
2 onions, peeled and cut into semi-circles
2 tbsp of unrefined sunflower oil or rapeseed oil
2 pinches of salt
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or grated
2 tsp of khmeli-suneli spice or 1 tsp of coriander, 1 tsp of smoked paprika, 1/2 chilli powder
4-5 medium beetroots, peeled and cut into wedges
1 tbsp of pomegranate molasses 
1 tbsp of date syrup 
200g of kale / spinach / chard or a mix of all
1 tin of red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
50g walnuts, roughly chopped
A handful of fresh dill 

Method
Heat up the oil in a casserole or a large pot.
Fry the onions with salt, garlic and the spices for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the beetroot with a tbsp of pomegranate molasses and a tbsp of date syrup.
Add enough water just to cover the beetroot, and cook on medium heat for 30 minutes or until the beetroot is soft but still has a bit of bite to it (for baby version make sure the beetroot is extra soft)
Add the beans and the greens, give them a good stir, and cook for 2-3 minutes for adult version, and 5-7 minutes for the baby version, especially if using kale.
Sprinkle with walnuts and fresh dill. 

variations
I would highly recommend you treat yourself to the original Georgian spice mix, khmeli-suneli, but a substitute of coriander, paprika and chilli would work well too. You can also use any other dark beans, like aduki or black eyed peas, or experiment with the leafy greens you add to the dish. The beetroot, I am afraid, is non-negotiable as she is the queen of this dish!

weaning ideas 
This dish is perhaps the most sophisticated of the 3 offered in this session. So it might be best suited for a later weaning stage. However, the dish is full of flavour, colour and nutrients so you can offer a version of this for stage 1 in a puree form. For that you can stew the beetroot with beans and greens adding a touch of coriander and pureeing it until smooth. Add more flavours and textures as you go along. This dish will grow together with your baby! 

thank you for being here!