17 Basic Purees

After several months of feeding my first baby, I feel like I've got a pretty good list of basic purees that helped introduce different foods and flavors.  In a desperate attempt to not get bored - because let's face it, there are a lot of meals when you have to feed this little person something but I certainly don't have the brainpower, time, or ingredients to do something fancy - I've created a go-to list of purees that are simple.  These basics will most likely be the keystones for many more meals.  Just appropriate prep the food by peeling (if necessary) and cutting into chunks.  Steam, puree by adding enough reserved cooking liquid as needed, and you're ready to go:

Even More Root Vegetables

Since it is winter and root vegetables are everywhere these days, and squash and carrots are getting a little boring, we're branching out and trying new root vegetables.  So far, we've tried turnips and celery root.  Both have gone well.  We've put a little potato with dark leafy green purees to give them more oomph, and sweet potatoes are popular.  Our newest additions to the root vegetable group are sunchokes and parsnips.

Sunchokes are overlooked and delicious.  The hardest part of cooking with a sun choke is peeling it if it has lots of little nubs and crevices.  I try to find the straightest and smoothest sunchokes, but realistically you should factor in a little bit of time to peel them well.  With the peel, they look similar to a ginger root, and without the peel, they look similar to a potato.  I've heard they are really high in iron and are good prebiotics for digestive health, so they seem like a good thing to give a baby.  (I've also heard that they cause farts, but so far that hasn't been our experience.)  

Along with our sunchokes, I added some turnip and our old standby - leek.  

Sunchoke, Turnip, & Leek Puree

• Peel sunchoke and turnip
• Chop into small chunks
• Wash leek and slice white end
• Add sunchoke and turnip chunks & leeks to a steamer basket
• Steam for 15 minutes
• Blend with a small amount of cooking liquid for desired consistency

I scooped out several portions of this dish and set them aside for Robert.  Then I made a mistake.  I didn't taste it before altering for a more adult version.  If I had tasted it, I would have declared it practically done - just in need of a small amount of salt and pepper.  Unfortunately, I plowed ahead without thinking and added a generous block of butter (and salt and pepper.)  

Whoops.  Later, while feeding this to Robert, I had a bite of his, and it was delicious.  The adult version was overrun with butter.  It wasn't bad, it just didn't let the flavors of the veggies through.  

Our next root vegetable was the misunderstood parsnip.  I thought this would be a good addition because they can be even sweeter than carrots and are easy to prepare.  

Parsnip and Carrot Puree

• Peel parsnip and carrots
• Chop into small chunks
• Steam for 15 minutes
• Blend with a generous amount of cooking liquid to get a good mush

I used substantially more parsnip than carrot, and Robert loved this!  Since he's familiar with orange colored foods - and likes them a lot - he took the first bite willingly and cleaned his bowl.

Bringing Back Squash

The holidays have been downright crazy.  We've had parties, hosted our own party, and travelled to see Nana and Granddad.  With all of the excitement and Robert's burning desire to learn how to crawl, we've been eating a lot.  Those 2 oz food portion containers that I thought were going to keep my life well organized are next to useless because he'll eat 3-4 containers in one sitting.  I've graduated to storing food in regular Pyrex dishes and spooning out generous portions as needed.

One item that we've been focusing on is the dreaded squash.  Our first attempt did not go over well.  Most ended up in the trough in his bib.  Fortunately, the Farmhouse Delivery folks sent a delicious winter squash with our bushel, and I combined this with an organic leek.

• Squash and Leek Puree 
• Peel squash and roughly chop.
• Slice about 2-3 inches of the white portion of a leek and rinse thoroughly to remove dirt.
• Steam together for about 15 minutes
• Puree, adding enough cooking liquid to make into a soft mush

Robert didn't know what hit him.  He loved it and kept opening his mouth for more.  I paired it with a simple spinach and potato puree and sole - some of his favorites - to keep the meal colorful and tasty.