Gone are the days when feeding Baby solid foods meant opening a jar or making purée after time consuming purée at home. With “The Baby-Led Weaning Family Cookbook” from Gill Rapley, Ph.D., and Tracey Murkett, a baby just beginning to enjoy basic foods doesn’t need to have a separate meal from the rest of the family. With more than 100 easy and fast recipes that are healthy, easily digested by babies and include versions for grown-ups, everyone can enjoy the same meals together.
The bright, fun cookbook is beautifully laid out with mouthwatering photos throughout. Rapley and Murkett explain the concept of baby-led weaning and how to incorporate new foods into your baby’s diet in a fun and enticing manner. There are classic recipes such as Stovetop Mac and Cheese, and more savory recipes including Pan-Fried Fish with Lemon & Herb Butter.
Baked Sweet Potato Rounds with Orange & Thyme
These soft, sticky discs of sweet potato are excellent served warm as a side or cold as a salad. They go very well with roasted meats and casseroles and take just minutes to prepare before roasting.
4 large sweet potatoes
Zest and juice of 1 large un-waxed orange
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon fresh or dried thyme leaves
Preheat the oven to 350F. Slice the sweet potatoes crosswise into chunky rounds, about ½ inch thick. Lay the rounds on a large baking sheet.
Mix together the orange zest and juice, the oil and thyme leaves and pour over the potato rounds. Turn them over so that they are coated on all sides.
Cover the baking sheet with foil and bake for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes, remove the foil and cook for another 5 to 15 minutes, until the sweet potato is very tender and the sauce has reduced and become sticky. Serve warm or cold.
Recipe from “The Baby-led Weaning Family Cookbook,” © Gill Rapley and Tracey Murkett, 2017. Photographs © Ruth Jenkinson. Reprinted with permission of the publisher, The Experiment. Available wherever books are sold.