Fruit and Vegetables - After first tastes accepted

Courgette
Wash 2 medium courgettes carefully, remove the ends and slice. (The skin is soft so doesn't need to be removed.) Steam until tender (about 10 minutes), then puree in a blender or mash with a fork. (No need to add extra liquid). Good mixed with sweet potato, carrot or baby rice. MAKES 8 PORTIONS.

Broccoli and Cauliflower
User 100g of either. Wash well, cut into small florets and add 150ml boiling water. Simmer, covered, until tender (about 10 minutes). Drain, reserving the cooking liquid. Puree until smooht, adding a little of the liquid, or baby milk, to make the desired consistency.
Alternatively steam the florets for 10 minutes for better flavour and rentention of nutrients. Add water from the steamer or baby milk to make a smooth puree. Broccoli and cauliflower are good mixed with a cheese sauce or root vegetable puree like carrot or sweet potato. MAKES 4 PORTIONS.

Green Beans
French beans are best since they tend to be the least stringy variety; runner beans should be pureed in a mouli. Wash the beans, top and tail, and remove any stringy bits. Steam until tender (about 12 minutes), then blend. Add a little milk to make a smooth puree. Green vegetables like beans are good mixed with root vegetables sush as sweet potato or carrot.

Potato, Courgette and Broccoli
Combining potato with green vegetables makes them more palatable for babies. Peel and chop two medium potatoes (200g). Boil in water below a steamer for about 10 minutes or until soft. Place 25g broccoli florets and 50g sliced courgette in the steamer basket, cover and cook for 5 minutes or until all the vegetables are tender. Drain the potato and puree all the vegetables in a mouli, adding enough baby milk to make a smooth consistency.

Broccoli Trio
Peel and chop a medium sweet potato (aprox. 200g) and boil for 5 minutes. Place 50g each of broccoli and cauliflower florets in a steamer basket above the sweet potato, cover and continue to cook for 5 minutes. When all the vegetables are tender, puree them in a blender together with a knob of butter and enough of the cooking liquid to make the desired consistency.

Peach
Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil. Cut a shallow cross on the skin of 2 peaches, submerge them in the water for 1 minute, then plunge into cold water. Skin and chop the peaches, discarding the stones. Either puree the peaches uncooked or steam first for a few minutes until tender. Peach and banana make a good combination.

Carrot and Cauliflower
Combining vegetables makes them more interesting and, once your baby has got used to carrot and cauliflower seperately, this combination makes a nice change. Cook 50g carrots, scraped and sliced, in boiling water for 20 minutes until soft. After 10 minutes, add 175g cauliflower florets. Drain the vegetables and puree in a blender. Stir in 2 tablespoons baby milk.

Cantaloupe Melon
Cantaloupes are the small, very pale green melons with orange flesh. They are rich in Vitamins A and C. Only give ripe melon. Cut in half, remove seeds, scoop out the flesh and puree in a blender.
Other varieties of sweet melon like Galia and Honeydew are good too. When you baby is a little older, properly ripe melon may be eaten raw.

Apricot and Pear
Roughly chop 50g ready-to-eat dried apricots and put them into a saucepan with 2 ripe Conference Pears (350g) peeled, cored and cut into pieces. Cook, covered, over a low heat for 3-4 minutes. Puree in a blender. Alternatively, use 4 fresh, sweet, ripe apricots, peeled, stoned and chopped.

Peas
I tend to use frozen peas as they are just as nutritious as fresh. Cover 100g peas with water, bring to the boil and simmer, covered, for 4 minutes until tender. Drain, reserving some cooking liquid. Puree using a mouli or press through a sieve and add some of the cooking liquid to make the desired consistency. Good combined with potato, sweet potato, parsnip or carrot. If using fresh peas, cook them for 12-15 minutes. MAKES 4 PORTIONS.

Corn on the Cob
Remove the outer corn husks and silk from the corn on the cob and rinse well. Cover with boiling water and cook over a medium heat for 10 minutes. Strain and then remove the kernels of corn using a sharp knife. Puree in a mouli. Alternatively, cook some frozen corn and then puree.

Sweet Red Capsicum
Wash, core and deseed a medium capsicum. Cut into quarters and roast under a pre-heated grill until the skin is charred. Place in a plastic bag and allow to cool. Peel off the blistered skin and puree. Good with cauliflower or potato. MAKES 2-3 PORTIONS.

Avocado
Cut a well-ripened avocado in half and scoop out the stone. Use 1/3-1/2 and mash the flesh with a fork, maybe adding a little milk. Serve quickly to avoid it turning brown. Good mixed with mashed banana. Do not freeze avocados. MAKES 1 PORTION.

Tomatoes
Plunge 2 medium tomatoes in boiling water for 30 seconds. Transfer to cold water, skin, seed and roughly chop. Melt a knob of butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and saute the tomato until mushy. Puree in a blender. This is good combined with potato, cauliflower or courgette. MAKES 2-3 PORTIONS.