Soren's Purple Plate

Babies, kids, and parents eat together. Simple, healthy food ideas.

RED LENTIL STEW WITH SWEET POTATOES AND Peppers

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BLW appropriate from 6 months! It is an ideal dish for beginners.

If I were to pick one dish that I make the most, that my son likes the most and that is one of the quickest and healthiest meals prepared in 30 minutes, it would be this one.

I change it up every time adding different spices and vegetables.

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❗️TIP: if you have the following ingredients in your kitchen at all times, you will always be able to prepare a healthy and yummy meal:

?Celery (for stews, sautés, soups, smoothies)
?Carrots (for steaming, stews, sautés, soups)
?Onions (for stews, sautés, soups and meatballs)
?Sweet potatoes (for steaming, stews, sautés)
?Parsley || for everything
?Cilantro || for everything

 

INGREDIENTS:

1 medium yellow onion
2-3 carrots
4 celery stalks
1 large sweet potato
1.5 cup red lentils
1 red pepper
1/2 cup of chopped parsley
1/3 tsp Turmeric
1/3 tsp Curry

 

METHOD:

1. Chop the onion, celery and cut carrots in circles. Cube sweet potato into 1/2 inch cubes. Rinse red lentils.

2. Heat up 1 tbsp of coconut oil (or oil of choice) in a deep pot. Sauté the onion, carrots and celery for 10 minutes stirring occasionally.

2. Add sweet potato and lentils. Pour enough water so that all the vegetables are covered by a 1/4 inch=pinky width (not more bc the dish will become too soupy). Lower the heat and cook for 10 minutes.

3. Add chopped red pepper and parsley. Season with salt and pepper, turmeric and curry. Cook for 10 minutes.

NOTE: red lentils fall apart very quickly and become creamy. They are perfect for a stew like this and definitely not good for adding to a salad.

 

 

5.0 from 1 reviews
LENTIL STEW WITH SWEET POTATOES AND RED PEPPERS
 
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This is an ideal dish for the beginners of Baby Led Weaning. It's soft and creamy yet has texture. Sweet potatoes guarantee that your baby will like it.
Author:
Recipe type: lunch, dinner, lentils
Ingredients
  • 1 medium yellow onion
  • 2-3 carrots
  • 4 celery stalks
  • 1 large sweet potato
  • 1.5 cup red lentils
  • 1 red pepper
  • ½ cup of chopped parsley
  • ⅓ tsp Turmeric
  • ⅓ tsp Curry
Instructions
  1. Chop the onion, celery and cut carrots in circles. Cube sweet potato into ½ inch cubes. Rinse red lentils.
  2. Heat up 1 tbsp of coconut oil (or oil of choice) in a deep pot. Sauté the onion, carrots and celery for 10 minutes stirring occasionally.
  3. Add sweet potato and lentils. Pour enough water so that all the vegetables are covered by a ¼ inch=pinky width (not more bc the dish will become too soupy). Lower the heat and cook for 10 minutes.
  4. Add chopped red pepper and parsley. Season with salt and pepper, turmeric and curry. Cook for 10 minutes.
  5. NOTE: red lentils fall apart very quickly and become creamy. They are perfect for a stew like this and definitely not good for adding to a salad. Keep that in mind.

 

Lentil Stew with Beet Greens

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Healthy Lentil Stew

Lentils are a perfect meal. They are full of protein and flavor. Unlike many other vegan dishes, lentils are very satisfying on their own: no sauce or anything else needed. The dish I made today is full of nutrients because I used beet greens in it. Don’t ever discard beet greens. They are one of the healthiest greens out there, they contain even more healthy goodness than the beetroot itself: plenty of calcium, magnesium, vitamin B6, folate among others. You can eat it raw or cooked like in this recipe.

As always I made a big batch for my husband and me and a small, salt-free portion for the baby (he is still under one). You are chopping stuff up anyway, why not cook for everyone at once! I even froze a small portion for those empty-fridge days.  You can control the softness of the vegetables and the lentils by the amount of cooking time. If offering to the very small babies, add more water and cook for longer until the vegetables are very soft.

This stew is a wonderful meal to practice self-feeding skills right from 6 months. I used a 2-spoon-method with Soren: load one spoonful, offer it to the baby and while he is eating, prepare the second spoon. They learn so fast how to grab the spoon and direct it towards their mouths. It’s fascinating to watch.

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INGREDIENTS:

Put as many various vegetables as you like. I used:

3 celery sticks
3 broccoli stems-optional (I never discard them. I remove the rough outer layer and use in many dishes)
4 carrots
1 yellow onion
a bunch of beet greens
1 cup of french lentils (darker in color and smaller)
1-1.5 cup of regular green lentils
3 cloves of garlic
olive oil
turmeric
rosemary (I used dried)
Salt and pepper (for adults)

METHOD:

1. In a big pot, sauté chopped onions, carrots, celery and garlic for 5-8 minutes.

2. Add chopped beet greens and broccoli stems. Sauté for 3 minutes.

3. Add throughly washed lentils. Stir well. Pour water to cover lentils by an inch and a half. Season. Simmer for 25 minutes or until desired consistency.

4. Add more water if you like the stew to be soupy. Top with parsley or dill. I didn’t have any today but it still came out delicious.

 

Lentil Stew with Beet Greens
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Lentils, lunch, dinner, vegan
Cuisine: vegan
Ingredients
  • 3 celery sticks
  • 3 broccoli stems-optional (I never discard them. I remove the rough outer layer and use in many dishes)
  • 4 carrots
  • 1 yellow onion
  • a bunch of beet greens
  • 1 cup of french lentils (darker in color and smaller)
  • 1-1.5 cup of regular green lentils
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • olive oil
  • ½ tsp of turmeric
  • rosemary (I used dried)
  • Salt and pepper (for adults)
Instructions
  1. In a big pot, sauté chopped onions, carrots, celery and garlic for 5-8 minutes.
  2. Add chopped beet greens and broccoli stems. Sauté for 3 minutes.
  3. Add throughly washed lentils. Stir well. Pour water to cover lentils by an inch and a half. Season with salt, pepper, turmeric, rosemary. Simmer for 25 minutes or until desired consistency.
  4. Add more water if you like the stew to be soupy. Top with parsley or dill. I didn't have any today but it still came out delicious.

 

Red Lentils with Vegetables

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And we are back to our weekly staple –  lentils. When I am really pressed in time, I resort to red lentils because they are guaranteed to be cooked within 15-20 minutes. Also, unlike other types, red lentils don’t need to be soaked. If you would like to use them in a salad, then you would need to take them off the heat after just 10 minutes. Otherwise, keep them for 15-20 minutes to turn them into a puree or 25 minutes to make them really mushy. I personally love the mushy texture especially in contrast to the firmer vegetables  in a stew.

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Lentils was one of the very first foods I introduced to Soren when he was about 6.5 months old. My personal favorites are French lentils but I started with red ones because of its soft consistency and shortly after introduced all other kinds.

Lentils are really a powerhouse of nutrition. To learn more about this amazing food, why we like it and how we eat it read here.

FOR PREGNANCY: When I was pregnant with Soren, I ate a lot of beans and lentils. Besides high quantities of protein, they contain a lot of folate, which we need  for cellular growth and regeneration and to prevent fetal deformities.  Doctors always prescribe folic acid to pregnant women. Folic acid is a vitamin B9, a synthetic version of naturally occurring folate. While I still took prenatal vitamins, I tried to get the most vitamins from food.

On the topic of pregnancy and what we pass on to our unborn babies during that time, Annie Murphy Paul gives a wonderful presentation of a scientific study What We Learn Before We Are Born. Watch it; it’s really fascinating.

It could be just that Soren inherited my taste for lentils (being influenced in the womb) or it might be because they were on his plate that early (6.5 months); whatever the reason, they are his favorite food. I am lucky because it’s so easy to pack a lentil stew with all kinds of vegetables and spices. You are basically delivering a nutritious multi-vitamin-multi-mineral in a spoonful.

To take it to another level, I served it with my new Green Sauce made with parsley, cilantro and basil. It deserves a special post – Click here to view.

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And how easy and quick it is to make! In this particular stew, I used rainbow carrots but you can use any carrots you like. And in general, you can substitute and add as much as you want with my recipes (except for baking). They are not really recipes, they are soft instructions which you can modify.

Red Lentils with Vegetables
 
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Recipe type: stew, lunch, dinner, family meal
Ingredients
  • 1.5-2 cups red lentils
  • A bunch of spring onions (or ½ yellow onion)
  • 3 celery stalks
  • 4 carrots (I used rainbow carrots)
  • 2 cups of chopped green beans
  • 2 small potatoes
  • 1 large garlic clove
Instructions
  1. Wash and prepare all the vegetables: finely chop the onions, celery, cut carrots in large circles, chop green beans into 1 inch pieces, cube potatoes, mince the garlic.
  2. In a large pot, warm up 3 tbsp of olive oil and sauté all the vegetables together for 8 minutes stirring frequently. If using a steel pot without a non-stick surface, add a bit of water to prevent from sticking too much.
  3. Wash the lentils in a colander, add them to the vegetables. Toast them stirring frequently for 3-5 minutes. Add enough water to cover the lentils by 1 inch. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat, cover with lid and cook for 15-20 minutes until the lentils are soft and mushy. These guys always fall apart and make a nice creamy stew.
  4. Right before turning off the heat, it's nice to add some turmeric. It's an amazing anti-inflamatory spice without any flavor, which adds golden color to dishes.
  5. TIP: turmeric stains pretty badly especially before it's cooked in a dish so handle with care.

 

 

 

Rainbow Chard Lentil Stew

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…or PRE-CHRISTMAS EASY VEGAN STEW

French lentil stew

Do you ever wonder how is it possible that there is nothing to eat with all the food lying around in your kitchen after a massive wallet-draining grocery shopping spree? It happens to me all the time around the holidays. My head is busy planning all the steps of the upcoming menu, I already feel tired, even though I haven’t started cooking, and my husband wonders around the kitchen looking for anything humans can eat. Oh wait, what about the baby? Ok, Soren will have to eat a bowl of cereal or something. And I am starving too! Exactly that happened during Thanksgiving. I learned my lesson. From now on I am making a large batch  of something delicious that we all can munch on a few days leading up to the festive meal.

So what is it that you can make that can last you a couple of days while you are busy preparing for a Christmas dinner; something that tastes good hot and cold, something that is full of protein and vitamins, something that 6-months-old babies can eat as well.  From now on, in my house it’s lentils. It’s really one of our favorite dishes and I always play around with various vegetables that go into the stew.

These colors will fade and get lost in the yumminess of the stew so I always feel the urge to document what goes into the belly before it turns into a bit of a mush. This time it’s sweet potato, leeks, carrots and rainbow chard. I I like all kinds of lentils but my most favorite are French lentils. I think because they stay neat and pretty after being cooked unlike the other types that fall apart or become mushy (like red lentils).

French Lentil Stew

I hear some (or even many) kids don’t like lentils. I was lucky Soren liked it right from 6 months. It might be that he did because he was offered lentils early and developed a taste for them or it might be pure luck. In any case, don’t give up on the foods your little ones refuse right away. Offer it to them periodically without insisting. And don’t get discouraged. Remember: hungry kids eat!

French Lentils

Pre-Christmas Lentil Stew
 
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This iron and protein rich lentil stew is an ideal food to make in large batches if you know busy week is coming up. It can be enjoyed hot and cold, stores well in the fridge and is suitable for everyone, even babies from 6 months. It's vegan, gluten free, dairy free and naturally guilt-free.
Cuisine: vegan, healthy
Ingredients
  • 3 cups french lentils (or regular lentils)
  • 2 large sweet potatoes
  • 1 large bunch of rainbow chard (5 cups chopped)
  • 1 leek
  • ½ large onion
  • 1 carrot
  • 2-3 garlic cloves
  • Basil
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 3 tbsp coconut oil (or olive oil)
Instructions
  1. Wash and soak lentils for half hour. They will be ready once you have prepared all the other vegetables. I use french lentils in this stew but you can use the regular ones too. (For this particular recipe avoid yellow and red lentils because they cook much faster and become soupy).
  2. In a large pan or pot, cook the chopped onion, garlic and leek (cut in large circles) in coconut oil (or olive oil) for 5 minutes stirring frequently. Add carrots (circles). Cook for another 3 minutes.
  3. Add the lentils, stir everything very well and let lentils toast on a pan for 3-4 minutes. Pour 5 cups of water or stock (I used water because I find lentils very flavorful anyway). Add the bay leaves. Close the lid, lower the heat and cook for 15 minutes.
  4. Chop sweet potato and rainbow chard. Add it to the stew together with 2 more cups of water. Season with salt. Cook for 20-25 minutes or until lentils and vegetables are cooked through.
  5. Before turning off the heat, add lots of chopped basil.
  6. TIP: adjust the amount of water as you cook. If you like mushy lentils- add more, if you like them firm - add a bit less.

 

Quinoa Chicken Veggie Stew

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Quinoa Chicken Veggies Stew

This stew is perfect for both adults and children of all ages beginning from 6 months (if you are doing Baby Led Weaning. To learn about Baby Led Weaning, click here). When Soren was still under 1, I would  usually prepare all the ingredients and would have 2 pots or pans going: one – for the baby, in which I would cook without salt, and the other one for adults. It doesn’t take any longer to cook this way, you would just end up with an extra pot to wash afterwards. No big deal.

The stew proportions don’t matter here since you literally can not screw it up. Put as much of your favorite ingredients as you like.

Quinoa Chicken Veggies Stew

Quinoa Chicken Veggie Stew
 
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A healthy quinoa stew. Baby Led Weaning appropriate from 7 months.
Recipe type: dinner, casserole, lunch
Cuisine: healthy
Ingredients
  • 1 lb of chicken (breast or thighs)
  • 1 cup of quinoa
  • 1 large leek
  • 3-4 carrots
  • 3-4 celery stalks
  • 1 large red pepper
  • 1 apple
  • a bunch of cilantro
  • a bunch of parsley
  • water or chicken stock
  • Spices: raw garlic, coriander, red pepper flakes (avoid for babies)
Instructions
  1. Heat the pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Sauté cubed chicken with leaks (cut in circles or half circles) for 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Add the carrots and half of celery.
  2. In a food processor (I find Cuisinart mini food processor indispensable in the kitchen), puree the rest of celery and the apple. This puree adds sauciness to the stew. Add it to the pan together with red pepper, quinoa and enough water/chicken stock to cover quinoa. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
  3. Add more water if required. Five minutes before you turn off the stove, add the garlic, cilantro, parsley and the spices. Don't forget the salt for adults.