Tara’s food preps are the most laborious ones for me these days. Agam and I have simplified our diet considerably so I have stopped prepping for stuff over the weekend. No masala bhunna and no curries and stuff. Simple lentils, sautéed veggies, stir fries, grilled and pan roasted meat, salads and warm and cold soups are our simple dinner options these days. Tara’s cuisine is also mostly simple. but requires A LOT of chopping. I don’t give her skins yet. So peeling and chopping takes the most time. She is increasingly enjoying table food with us at restaurants. But at home, I am still keeping her interested in with purees. Here are a few variations I do for her usually

Khichdi -Moong Dal 1/2 cup Rice 1/4 cup, Cauliflower, Carrots and Peas – 1/2 cup,  Hing (pinch), Dhania-Cumin powder (a dash), and ghee (as much as you like). 3 whistles and then a smooth blend.

You can make a variation of the above with some ginger garlic paste in it.

Purees that I have made for Tara so far –

Apple, Pears and Tofu – Add some cinnamon to Apple when you bake them. I toss my apples and pears in some melted butter and bake them for 40min at 350F.

Zuchini, Pears and Tofu – same as above. Add some cinnamon or rosemary strings

Parsnip, Turnip, Beets and Chicken – this has enough flavor on its own from the veggies. I pressure cook everything together. If the puree is too thin, I thicken it with some oatmeal cereal.

Parsnip, Squash and Zuchini with either pears or apple – add some chicken puree to it to thicken

Tomatoes Basil and Fresh Mozarella – grind all together. Add fewer basil to test flavor and then make it bolder as per your liking.

Cook tomatoes and cauliflower in some garlic with butter.

Cook potatoes and spinach in butter (dash of garlic)

Just potatoes – in butter and garlic

Some times I make a all-in-one puree — all veggies and two chicken breasts in the pressure cooker with some garlic ginger paste and lil salt. Beets add a lot of flavor to such purees.

Dosas — Tara loves her dosa. Making it in ghee it enhances the  flavor considerably

Cook Carrots in butter and rosemary

Sweet Potatoes with Asian Pear

Add pesto to some zuchini puree and try that

Spinach, green beans, apple and potato

Roasted Squash with roasted shallots pureed into a soup

Tofu with any of these purees works well. So does fresh mozarella cheese.

I also made some chicken cacciatore – several recipes available on the internet. Add more veggies than the recipe asks for.

Cut up peaches really small and cover them with cellophan. Microwave for 3-5 min (depending on how ripe they are) and use it as a fruit topping with yogurt)

Tara doesn’t like peach purées – so I’ve been giving her peaches this way.

Berries – cut them up and use a good finger food. Grapes too are a good finger food. I take their skin off and then cut them in halves

Arugula with potatoes in butter also tastes pretty good.

Paneer with any of the purées above is a good option. I give paneer cubes as finger food too.

Haven’t tried any of the white sauces with her. That’s next 🙂