Breakthrough at the dinner table this week! Babyman ate a plateful of cauliflower and asked for more!
I hadn’t been posting much because truthfully I’ve been feeling a wee bit discouraged about Babyman’s persnickety habits of late. I mean, there’s only so many quesadillas a lady wants to make. But as is often the case, he was poised to surprise me.
It was CSA Wednesday, meaning that I came to home to my box of produce on the kitchen counter. My husband was running late and Babyman was entering his 6pm witching hour, so I was getting a little desparate for fresh distractions. “Do you want to see what’s inside mommy’s vegetable box?” (You do what you have to do.)
I pulled a stool up to the kitchen counter and Babyman stood there while I handed him the different fruits and vegetables. He was intrigued by the sweet potatoes, so I turned on the oven and pricked them for baking up. Together we rinsed the blueberries and strawberries and stone fruits, and I cut them into pieces for him to play with, and we talked about the broccoli and the lettuce, and the farm, and so on. When the box was empty, I turned on the oven light and he watched the sweet potatoes baking through the window. This was some serious Hallmark magic, in my book. Michelle Obama would have been proud.
35 minutes and a few block towers later, the sweet potatoes were done and Babyman sat on the counter and “helped” me mash them up for dinner. He then proceeded to eat an entire sweet potato with gusto.
The next evening I decided to try it again. I had already steamed and pureed the cauliflower from the box, but while I heated it on the stove I filled little spice bowls with grated parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, and nutmeg. Back on the stool, I let Babyman dump all the ingredients into the cauliflower and stir it up. He was so excited to eat the dinner he had “made”! Now he wants to be “up with mommy” whenever I’m cooking, which I hope translates into some more gastronomic risk-taking…
Cheesy Cauliflower Puree
Pureed cauliflower is one of my happiest discoveries from the world of baby food. It’s delicious and a healthy stand-in for grown-ups’ mashed potatoes if you add a little bleu cheese and roasted garlic. This is a kid-friendly take:
1 head cauliflower, trimmed and cut into small florets
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
dash of nutmeg
Put in a large pot and cover with water. Bring pot to a boil and cook for 15 minutes or until cauliflower is fork-tender. Transfer immediately to a food processor, add butter, and puree until smooth. (Puree can be kept in fridge for three days or so in an airtight container, or frozen.) When ready to serve, mix parmesan, breadcrumbs and nutmeg into warm puree.
Roasted Broccoli Ricotta Puree
Roasting the broccoli gives it a nutty flavor, and ricotta cheese adds a mellow creaminess.
1 head broccoli, cut into small florets
1 clove garlic, minced
olive oil
salt
1/4 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a cookie sheet, toss broccoli with olive oil, garlic, and salt. Roast for 20 minutes or so, until broccoli is tender and golden. Transfer to a food processor, add ricotta, and puree until smooth.
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