Split red lentils are a good source of vegetable protein and so are particularly important for children being brought up on a vegetarian or vegan diet. The addition of the cumin and kelp assists with digestion of the complex starches in lentils.
*Recipe from my book Feeding Little Tummies
Note that if your baby experiences excessive wind and a tummy ache after eating lentils wait until he is at least 8 months before trying them again.
Prep time 10 minutes plus soaking time for lentils
Cook time 30 minutes
1/2 cup split red lentils
1 small carrot, peeled and grated
1 cup grated pumpkin
pinch of cumin
1/2 tsp kelp (optional)
2 cups water, vegetable stock or chicken stock
Cover the lentils with cold water and soak for an hour or overnight (soaking improves the digestion of lentils for little tummies). Drain and rinse well in a sieve.
In a saucepan combine the drained lentils, grated carrot and pumpkin, cumin, kelp, and water or stock
Bring to boil and simmer for 25 – 30 minutes until the lentils are tender (they should crush easily when pressed against the side of the pan).
Remove from the heat. Roughly purée with a stick blender adjusting consistency with extra stock or water if necessary. Cool to serving temperature. Freeze excess soup into single-meal portions using small containers or muffin trays.
Variation Add 1 packed cup of shredded spinach or silver beet in the last 5 minutes of cooking.
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Kelp
Kelp is an edible seaweed that helps with the breakdown of lentils and beans during cooking, making them easier for the body to digest. Seaweed has 10–20 times the mineral content of land vegetables, including the essential minerals iron, calcium and iodine, as well as protein and essential fatty acids, so is an especially useful supplement for vegetarian and vegan babies. It can be added to soups, puréed vegetables, stews, salad dressings, scrambled eggs and so on, boosting the overall nutritional value of these foods.
Kelp is available from organic stores and most supermarkets in the supplement section, and can be purchased as a fine or coarse powder. Fine kelp can be mixed with table salt (one part kelp to five parts salt) to make a mineral-rich seasoning. Coarse kelp, meanwhile, looks just like ground pepper but without the pungency, put it in a peppershaker and use as you would pepper to sprinkle on food. Although kelp does have a slightly fishy smell and an unappetising grey colour that can be off-putting at first, its mild salty flavour virtually disappears once it is added to other foods.