While I *did* make the following 2 recipes into baby food, they are really appropriate for adult eating. I simply made 2 pots and made one w/out seasoning and ground it up in the baby food grinder. The other was perfectly seasoned for grown-ups.
Bree's Lentil Tomato Soup1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups chopped onion
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 1/3 cups water
2 1/3 cups dried lentils
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 (14 1/2-ounce) cans fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 (28-oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
light sour cream (optional)
shredded cheese (optional)
1. Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion; saute for 3 minutes or until tender. Add the turmeric and the next 6 ingredients (turmeric through garlic); saute for 1 minute. Add water and next 4 ingredients (water through diced tomatoes); bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer 1 hour.
2. Reserve 2 cups lentil mixture. Place half of remaining mixture in blender; process until smooth. Pour pureed soup into a large bowl. Repeat procedure with other half of remaining mixture. Stir in reserved 2 cups lentil mixture. Garnish with sour cream and cheese if desired.
Sometimes I don't even grind some up if I am lazy. Sometimes I make this less soupy and serve over rice. You can leave out the turmeric if you don't have it, maybe up the cumin.
Conor thought it was great, even though to me his tasted awful since it had no seasoning, not even salt and pepper.
Chicken Stew1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 large onion, diced
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon cumin
3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 28-ounce can (or 2 14-ounce cans) diced tomatoes
1-cup (or more) chicken broth
assorted diced veggies, such as carrots, peas, corn
1 can of beans - kidney, pinto, black, cannellini, chickpea
salt and pepper
Heat the butter in a large, deep skillet or dutch oven over medium heat. When melted, add the onion and cumin and cook until soft, 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds. Add the chicken and brown on both sides, about 5-6 minutes per side. Add the canned tomatoes, broth, veggies, and beans. Season with salt and pepper to your liking. Bring to a boil, then reduce to low and simmer until tomatoes are soft.
Add enough broth or a combination of broth and water until you get the consistency you desire. You can make it watery and more like soup, or thick. I make it on the thick side and serve over wild rice. (those 90-second stick in the microwave wild rice pouches are really good)
Again, for the baby I made it soupy and without seasoning. Instead of diced carrots, one time I added some carrots I had already pureed for him and he didn't like. It just added to the sauce of the stew. I ground it up in both the food processor and the food mill and he LOVED it.
When I make the variation with cumin and chili powder, kidney beans, and corn, it makes a kind of Southwestern stew. You can take this in any direction you want with the veggies and seasoning - Italian, Indian, etc. Curried with chickpeas over couscous or basmati rice would be really tasty!
Labels: baby, chicken, entree, vegetarian
