Annabel Karmel's Tasty Recipes

Get cooking with baby feeding expert Annabel Karmel's delicious recipes for babies and toddlers as well as meals you can adapt for the whole family

Lovely lentils Fillets of plaice with carrots, cheese and tomato Annabel's Bolognese sauce Pasta stars with carrot and tomato Apple and pear Yoghurt with apricot and banana

Lovely Lentils

Suitable from seven months
Suitable for freezing

Lentils feature high up in the list of 'superfoods'. They are an excellent source of protein, iron, zinc and potassium. Iron from non-animal sources like lentils is not easy to absorb. In order to boost iron absorption you need to give vitamin C-rich fruit or diluted juice during the same meal.

It's easy to prepare home made baby food in bulk and freeze extra portions so you don't have to cook every day.

I have recently launched a range of equipment called 'Make Your Own' in Boots which includes covered ice-cube trays, pots for freezing baby food and blenders.

You can transform this tasty puree into a soup for the family simply by adding more stock and some seasoning.

50g finely chopped onion
1 medium carrot (approx 100g), peeled and chopped
20g chopped celery
1 tbsp vegetable oil
4 tbsp split red lentils
250g sweet potato, peeled and chopped
400ml unsalted vegetable stock or water

Heat the vegetable oil and saute the onion, carrot and celery for about five minutes or until softened. Rinse the lentils and saute for one minute. Add the sweet potato and pour over the stock. Bring to the boil, turn down the heat and simmer, covered with a lid for 20 minutes. Puree with an electric blender.

Makes 5 portions

Recipe from Annabel Karmel's New Complete Baby and Toddler Meal Planner, published by Ebury. For more on nutrition and feeding your baby and toddler visit www.annabelkarmel.com