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We know happy families come together around great food, so we're asking for you to send in your favorite family recipes to cookbook@care.com. We'll publish them in a free, downloadable cookbook later this summer!

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Happy Cooking!

Well, I am Indian, so my recipes will all have the Indian touch, with Indian spices which are great on flavor and color as well as each condiment usually has some medicinal value.
And my son is 11 month old so most of my new recipes are to catered to his taste and consistency that he can digest!
My recent most innovation is age old Indian recipe of Rice and Lentil. I make it mixed with different vegetables and pressure cooked with a pinch of Turmeric and salt to taste. This is served with a curry of Potatoes and turnip.
Rice and Lentil Meal
Ingredients: Rice 1 cup, Lentil (yellow Moong daal - available at all Indian stores) 1cup, Broccoli florest 1 cup, zucchini 1 diced, washed spinach leaves - 5-6, Turmeric, salt.
Use a pressure cooker, start with adding oil / Ghee / Butter (ghee and butter is better for kids).
When warm add diced vegetables, stir, add Rice and Lentil. Stir. Add water with a ratio of 1:4, that is 4 cups water for each cup rice and lentil. Add salt and turmeric ( a small pinch). Stir well and cover with the pressure lid (with the weight). Allow to cook until 2 whistles of pressure cooker.
Let it cool, open, stir and is ready to eat.
Cooking time - 15 mins.
Tip-For younger kids you can mash this in a mixer/magic bullet etc., to make a paste consistency, for older kids it is soft and liquid enough for them to eat easily.

Potato and Turnip curry
Ingredients: 1 potato diced, 2 turnips diced, salt, turmeric. I also use a pinch of Indian Garam Masala ( which is a mixture of black & white peppercorns, cloves, cumin seeds, cinnamon, black, brown, & green cardamom, nutmeg, bay leaf, star anise and coriander seeds). This is not 'hot' like chilli powder although has some heat to it from the condiments.
Using a pressure cooker, add oil, potatoes, turnip one by one. Stir. Add salt and turmeric and Masala if you want. Let it fry, then add 1/2 cup water and pressure cook until 2 whistles. Let it cool.
Cooking time - 15 mins.

My son loves the rice and lentil meal and the curry is just one of the many that I make daily to help diversify his taste. Everyday I make a different curry and I can post here as we go along!

Hi, I totally agree with you! I am of Indian decent also. My 2 year old loves when I make dal and rice:) She is starting to get picky with different textures so I try to puree the veggies and mix them in.

Absolutely. Thats what you got to do with picky eaters. Mys on has hit the 'toddler' age and doesnt eat as well as he used to before. So i have to come up with new ideas to make sure he gets all the daily nutrients. I steam and then puree veggies like carrots, spinach etc and then mix it with the daal (lentil soup). Also try this -steam veggies, puree them, then add into gram flour, add chopped onions, and fry to make fritters. Really tasty. Or you can make the batter a bit more liquid and make pancakes for a healthier alternative.

Hey ladies, just heard a great EASY veg recipe from a friend that I am dying to try:

Roast shallots and baby tomatoes in the oven. Throw onto some fresh linguine with pine nuts over a bed of spinach. Sprinkle with balsamic and olive oil (I'm planning on throwing some parmesan or goat cheese on top). Voila!

Might not be super kid-friendly unless you have little ones with adventurous palates, but I bet it is easy to fix while the chicken strips are in the oven/microwave.