Garth McColgan’s Recipes and Tips for Babies and Toddlers #3

In the last of our series on feeding the family, Garth McColgan, resident chef at Aldi and the brains behind the Food Active summer camp, has a great family recipe. And check out his top five tips for establishing good eating habits in the toddler years.

Steamed Salmon with Sweet Potato Purée

by Garth McColgan

Serves 4 (a nutritious recipe that’s easy to adapt for baby, toddler, mums & dads.

Ingredients

1 Onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp Butter
1 head Broccoli, cut into florets
1 Sweet Potato, peeled and cut into 2cm diced pieces
8 pieces Frozen Mashed Potato
400-500mls Milk
1 pack Salmon Fillets
2 sprigs Parsley, roughly chopped
Squeeze of Lemon Juice

Method

1. In a saucepan fry the onion gently in 1 tbsp butter until soft. Now turn the heat up until the onion turns brown, but don’t stir.
2. Put the broccoli into a bowl with 4 tbs water and 1 tbs butter. Cover with cling-film and microwave on ‘high’ for about 5 minutes. Leave to stand and then strain.
3. Add the sweet potato, mashed potato and milk and bring to the boil.
4. Simmer gently for 5 minutes (with no lid) and then place the salmon fillets on top.
5. Cover and cook for a further 5-7 minutes until the salmon is cooked.
6. Remove the salmon and keep warm.
7. For baby, blend fully and flake the fish on top, serve with broccoli.

8. For Mum or Dad, blend the potato mix, leaving some lumps; add parsley and a squeeze of lemon. Serve with salmon and broccoli.

Tip

This is not just for babies – all the kids will enjoy it. And you couldn’t give them anything healtheir. It’s a dish packed with Omega 3, potassium, complex carbohydrates, fibre, vitamin C and more.

Garth’s Top 5 Tips for Establishing Good Eating Habits in the Toddler Years

1. At meal times don’t give your child a drink until they are finished their meal as the fluids will give the sensation of being full and they will eat less food. This should encourage them to eat what’s on their plate.

2. Use a variety of different healthy foods and make things interesting for them.

3. Provide easy access to healthy snacks.

4. Provide foods that your child likes and introduce some new ones.

5. Try to be creative in the display of food on the plate. Happy faces made with mashed potatoes and a couple of peas can be fun.

6. Always be a good role model. In the early years, your child will learn most from modelling the behaviours of those closest to them.

– Garth McColgan and Aldi have provided us with this content in exchange for displaying their company logo in this post. For our advertising and PR policy, see here.