This month, our baby food chef Yeoh Leng Swee shares tips on to preparing the nutritious avocado purée for your baby as well as easy and yummy recipes in conjunction with the Festival of Light.
For The Love of Avocados!
A superfood for baby, the creamy texture in avocado makes it a perfect choice for weaning. Rich in protein, fiber, niacin, thiamin, riboflavin, folic acid, and zinc, this diverse nutrient density is rarely found in other fruits. It is also free of sodium and contains the desirable Omega 3 fatty acids, which is great for brain development.
Avocado is one of the easiest foods to prepare as you don’t have to cook it. However, it turns brown really quickly. Hence, the purée should only be prepared right before mealtime.
Selecting Avocados
As it ripens, its skin will turn from green to dark brown and should be soft when gently pressed. Only then it is ready to be eaten. Cut, scoop out the flesh and purée it for your baby.
AVOCADO PURÉE
SUITABLE FROM 6 months
MAKES 1-2 portions
INGREDIENTS
1 ripe avocado
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Slice avocado vertically into half.
2. Remove seed with a spoon and scoop flesh out.
3. Put flesh into the blender and purée until texture is creamy.
4.Scoop the purée into a bowl and serve immediately.
CREAM OF DHALL
SUITABLE FROM 8 months
MAKES 6 portions
INGREDIENTS
1 cup lentils
300gm pumpkin
1 slice of ginger
½ single piece of chicken breast (sliced into 0.5cm strips)
3 cups chicken stock
1 litre water
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Clean and soak lentils for 30 minutes. Rinse until water becomes clear.
2. Place lentils and 1 litre of water in a pot and bring to boil. Lower the flame and boil for 30 minutes. Pour lentils into a sieve to remove liquid and let it rest.
3. Add pumpkin, ginger and chicken stock into a pot and boil for 20 minutes.
4. Add chicken breast and leave to boil for another 15 minutes.
5. Add⅔ of lentils into the pot and mix.
6. Remove ginger and blend all the contents in the pot.
7. Add the remaining lentils into the pot and mix well.
RICE PUDDING WITH FRUIT COMPOTE
SUITABLE FROM 12-24 months
MAKES 4 portions
INGREDIENTS
½ cup of short grain rice
3 cups of milk (breastmilk or formula)
⅛ cup of raisins
Fruit compote:
1 cup of watermelon purée
½apple; cored and cut to 0.5 cm cubes
½ pear; cored and cut to 0.5 cm cubes
1 slice of honeydew*
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Combine short grain rice with milk and raisins in a pot. Boil for 30 minutes on low flame until rice is tender and mixture is creamy. Add more milk if necessary, especially if there is insufficient fluid during boiling.
2. Remove from flame and leave to cool in the fridge.
3. Combine all fruits in another pot and boil for 15 minutes on low flame. Once all the fruits are tender, mash with a fork.
4. Serve rice pudding in a bowl and place fruit compote on top.
5. It’s yummy served hot or cold!
* Honeydew can be replaced with plum or apricot for an
added variety.