Get your baby off to a good start by introducing a wide range of fresh foods and flavours. Try these quick-to-make, tasty recipes from best-selling author Annabel Karmel
Chicken puree with carrots and apple
Introduce your baby to chicken with this tasty puree
The carrots and apple add a sweetness and flavour that babies love and give the puree a smoother texture.
Suitable from 6 months
Suitable for freezing
Makes 4 portions
½ tbsp olive oil
½ small onion, peeled and chopped
350g/12 oz carrots, peeled and sliced
250ml/8 fl oz unsalted chicken stock or use water with a bay leaf
1 chicken breast (approx. 125g/4 oz)
1 small apple, cored, peeled and chopped
Heat the olive oil in a saucepan and saute the onion till softened. Add the sliced carrots, pour over the chicken stock or water and bay leaf and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, then cover and cook for 10 minutes.
Cut the chicken into pieces and add to the carrots together with the chopped apple, and continue to cook for 10 minutes. Remove the bay leaf if necessary. Puree in a blender and then spoon some of the puree into your baby's bowl and serve lukewarm. Freeze the remainder in individual portions.
TIP Oils with a high percentage of polyunsaturates, such as corn, safflower and sunflower oil lower cholesterol but tend to oxidise when heated to high temperatures producing free radicals that can damage your health. Oils higher in monounsaturates, such as olive oil and rapeseed are the safest for cooking at high temperatures. Also several studies have shown that the traditional Mediterranean diet, which is high in olive oil, helps to protect against many illnesses including heart disease.
For more on nutrition and feeding your baby and toddler visit www.annabelkarmel.com
Fish with carrots and orange
This puree is rich in vitamins and calcium, and bursting with flavour
Plaice is an excellent fish to choose for young babies as it has a very soft texture. This recipe makes a good introduction to fish.
Suitable from 6 months
Suitable for freezing
Makes 4 portions
175g (6 oz) carrots, peeled and sliced
125g (4 oz) potatoes, peeled and chopped
175g (6 oz) plaice fillets
juice of one orange
60g (2 oz) grated mild Cheddar cheese
a knob of butter
Put the carrots and potatoes in a pan, cover with water and boil until soft. Alternatively, place them in a steamer and cook until tender.
Meanwhile, place the fish in a gratin dish, pour over the orange juice, scatter over the cheese and dot with butter. Cover, leaving an air vent, and microwave on high for three minutes or until the fish flakes easily. Alternatively, cover with foil and cook in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.
Flake the fish with a fork, checking for bones. Add the vegetables to the fish and its juices, then blend to a puree of the desired consistency.
Vegetable puree with tomato and cheese
It's important to make sure that as well as fruits, vegetables, carbohydrate and protein foods, babies get enough fat in their diet as this is crucial for growth and development
Babies and young children need proportionately more fat in their diet than adults. Recipes like vegetables in cheese sauce and fruit mixed with Greek yoghurt are very good for your baby.
TIP Carrots are more nutritious when cooked - unlike many other vegetables. Cooking breaks open the plant cells so antioxidants and other plant chemicals can be absorbed much better. Carrots contain large amounts of carotene - an antioxidant that gives it its orange colour.
From 6 months
Makes 6 portions
Suitable for freezing
200g/7 oz carrots, peeled and chopped
100g/3 ½ oz cauliflower, cut into small florets
a generous knob of butter
3 medium tomatoes (around 200g/7 oz), skinned, deseeded and roughly chopped
75g/3 oz Cheddar cheese, grated
Put the carrots into a saucepan and just cover with boiling water. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Add the cauliflower and cook for 10 minutes longer. Meanwhile, melt the knob of butter in a separate pan, then add the chopped tomatoes and saute them for about two minutes until slightly mushy. Stir in the grated cheese until melted, then blend the carrots and cauliflower together in a food processor with the cheese and tomato sauce.
For more on nutrition and feeding your baby and toddler visit www.annabelkarmel.com
Braised beef with carrot, parsnip and sweet potato
This recipe makes a good introduction to red meat
The root vegetables give the meat a smooth texture and a flavour that babies like. Red meat provides the best source of iron for your baby and at around six months a baby's iron reserves inherited from his mother start to run out.
7 to 9 months
Suitable for freezing
Makes 5 portions
1 small red onion (approx. 75g), chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tbsp olive oil
150g lean braising steak, cut into pieces
2 tbsp flour
150g carrots, peeled and sliced
85g parsnip, peeled and sliced
250g sweet potato, peeled and chopped
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp chopped parsley
400 ml unsalted chicken stock
Heat the vegetable oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan or small casserole dish. Saute the onion and garlic for three to four minutes until softened. Toss the pieces of steak in flour and saute until sealed. Add the carrots, parsnip, sweet potato, bay leaf and parsley to the pan and pour over the stock. Bring to the boil and then simmer for about 1 hour 45 minutes or until the meat is tender.
Blend adding as much of the cooking liquid as necessary.
For more on nutrition and feeding your baby and toddler visit www.annabelkarmel.com
Apple, strawberry and peach
This is a good puree to make when peaches and strawberries are in season
Strawberries contain more vitamin C than other berry fruits. They are also a good source of fibre and betacarotene, and can help protect the body against cancer. Peaches provide a good source of vitamin C, betacarotene and fibre to keep your baby regular.
Adding baby rice to runny fruit purees helps thicken the texture.
Suitable from 6 months
Suitable for freezing
Makes 2 portions
1 large apple, peeled, cored and chopped
1 large peach, peeled, stoned and chopped
4 strawberries (approx 75g)
1 tbsp baby rice
Put the fruit into a saucepan, cover and cook over a low heat for about five minutes. Puree in a blender. Stir in the baby rice if required.
Apricot, apple, pear and vanilla
Serve this on its own or mix it with some baby rice, Greek yoghurt or mashed banana
Dried apricots are one of nature's great health foods. The drying process increases their concentration of betacarotene, potassium and iron. Check the label to make sure they have not been treated with sulphur dioxide (E220). This substance can trigger an asthma attack in susceptible babies.
Suitable from 6 months
Suitable for freezing
Makes 4 portions
75g ready-to-eat dried apricots, chopped
1 large apple, peeled, cored and chopped
1 vanilla pod (if using)
4 tbsp apple juice or water
1 large ripe pear, peeled, cored and chopped
Put the apricots and apple into a heavy-based saucepan together with the apple juice or water. If using vanilla, split the vanilla pod, scrape the seeds into the pan and throw in the split pod. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for three to four minutes. Add the chopped pear and continue to simmer for two minutes. Remove the split vanilla pod. Puree in a blender.
For more on nutrition and feeding your baby and toddler visit www.annabelkarmel.com