DILLED DOUBLE PEA SOUP

I had a strange experience on Saturday night. We were sitting around the table with some dinner guests and I noticed something odd.

While we shared funny stories of fussy family members that only ate chicken nuggets , one of our guests appeared to not have touched her meal. Or rather, her soup. She was chomping back on sour dough toast okay.

A shiver ran down my spine. I had cooked a bad meal for our guests.

Now if the conversation had been hovering around a topic unrelated to food and eating and fussiness, I may have sat there uncomfortably all night wondering whether I had over-dilled the pea soup.

"Um, you having trouble with that soup there?!" I chimed in. Thankfully, plenty of laughs. "Oh yeah I just don't do soup. I don't like liquid food".

Now this is a particularly chunky soup. It ain't the blended type. Vegetables bob about quite obviously. Then came the confessions of 'oh well I actually mainly eat burgers and pizza and all that'.

But here's the twist: I can comprehend a non-cook person with no interest or knowledge of food taking such an attitude to my soup. But she went on to explain she normally cooks southern-style fish and seafood dishes, and a great vegetarian lasagna I must drop by for...

Well, despite this soup being rejected, I can heartily recommend it. The DILL IS ESSENTIAL, so don't be tempted to omit it. No pictures sorry, but it's a lovely light green base with flashes of orange, white and green from the chunky vegetables.

I slightly adapted this from Cynthia Lair's Feeding the Whole Family.

DILLED DOUBLE PEA SOUP

 Serves 6-8.

2 cups green split peas

2 T olive oil

2 onions, chopped

2 t salt

2 large carrots, chopped

3 potatoes, diced

2 t ground cumin

black pepper

8 cups water

1 vegetable stock cube

2 large bay leaf

1 cup frozen peas

2 T snipped fresh dill

Soak split peas for about five hours in eight cups of water. Discard soaking water.

Heat oil in a pressure cooker or large pot. Add onion and salt and saute until golden. Add carrot, potatoes, cumin and pepper and saute few more minutes. Boil water and add a small amount to chopped stock cube and mix to dissolve. Add to pot with rest of water, split peas and bay leaves.

If pressure cooking: Bring up to pressure on high heat then lower and cook for 40 minutes.

If using a regular pot: Bring to boil, lower heat and simmer 60-90 minutes. (Yes, it's worth finding that pressure cooker down the op shop).

Once split peas have softened and the soup has become creamy, add dill and frozen peas. Check seasoning and add more salt or pepper if needed. Cook a few more minutes (don't over-do as peas will go mushy).

FOR BABIES 6 MONTHS AND OLDER: Reserve some frozen peas/carrot/potato and steam until soft. Blend/mash and serve with no salt.

FOR BABIES 9 MONTHS AND OLDER: Serve soup as is, but cut back on salt.

FOR BABIES/TODDLERS ONE YEAR AND OLDER: Serve soup just the way it comes.

SLURPING NOODLE SALAD WITH SESAME DRESSING

It may be bad manners to suck and slurp on spaghetti, but with noodles it's the only way.

And Billie has become a pro noodle-sucker. At times tonight she seemed to be competing with me for how fast she could slurp them back. While she managed to dodge any actual vegetables, she at least sucked back a fair few sesame seeds and bits of fresh coriander.

This is a delicious meal that's quick and easy to prepare, and is designed to be eaten cold (perfect for feeding the whole family).

Note that I've used honey - so best avoided if you're feeding an under-one-year-old. Substitute with maple syrup, which is what the original recipe calls for (yes, it's American).

You may have already guessed where this salad came from - Cynthia Lair's Feeding the Whole Family. I've just made a couple of changes.

 Lair suggests serving this tasty vegetarian dish with salmon. However, it's served us well twice this week as a main - just add a vegetable or two.

Feeding the family

NOODLE SALAD WITH SESAME DRESSING

Salad: 

1 pack of soba noodles (225g/8oz)

1/4 cup sesame seeds

1/4 cup chopped coriander/cilantro leaves

Dressing:

2 T sesame oil (Lair suggests toasted, but I just used plain)

3 T tamari or shoyu

3 T balsamic vinegar

1 T honey/maple syrup

1 T olive oil

fresh cracked pepper

Optional extras:

I used broccoli florets on Saturday and both broccoli and thinly sliced carrots tonight.

Lair suggests chives, red cabbage, radishes and scallions.

Toast sesame seeds in dry cast iron fry-pan/skillet on medium heat for about five minutes.  Stir frequently and remove when browning and crackling. Don't over-do them.

Cook soba noodles in medium-sized pot of boiling water for a few minutes (check package). Drain and rinse under cold tap immediately. 

Steam any vegetables, such as broccoli and carrot.

Whisk together dressing ingredients. Combine with noodles, coriander and sesame seeds. Gently stir through any vegetables.

Billie masters the art of noodle-eating

PARTY FOOD - PUMPKIN AND BANANA LOAF

Billie tries her cake and eyes up a second helping

I used to be suspicious of cakes boasting of their low-sugar low-fat credentials. What's the point?

Well, this pumpkin and banana loaf passed the first test immediately - it tasted GOOD.

And when you're trying to keep your baby/toddler/child/self away from sugar, suddenly recipes like these are winners.

If you're hosting a one-year-old's birthday, this cake has the added bonus of being the right shape. No need for fancy sculpting with lots of sweet sticky icing.

And the babies, toddlers and kids all came back for more. Especially Billie.

I have only slightly adapted this from a recipe courtesy of Cherie at our ante-natal mother's group.

Billie's First Birthday Cake

PUMPKIN AND BANANA LOAF

1 cup self raising flour

1/2 cup wholemeal self raising flour

1/4 t baking soda

1 t ground ginger

1 t cinnamon

1 t nutmeg

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 cups grated pumpkin

1 large banana, mashed

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1/3 cup sultanas

 2 eggs

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup plain, unsweetened yoghurt

Preheat oven to 180c. Oil a loaf tin and dust with flour or else line with paper. Sift dry ingredients into large bowl and stir through sugar. In a separate small bowl mix walnuts, sultanas, pumpkin and banana together. In another bowl whisk eggs, oil and yoghurt together. Add wet to dry and blend well with electric mixer, or else use wooden spoon. Stir through pumpkin mixture and pour into tin. Place on low-middle shelf of oven and cook for about an hour or when skewer comes out clean. Check after 50 minutes. I had to cover with foil towards the end as browned quickly on top and still wet at bottom, but will depend on your oven.

Leave for ten minutes in tin before turning out on wire rack to cool. Dust lightly with icing sugar before serving.

Training back from Melbourne