Millet Tomato Avocado Chia Salad +8M

The name salad is seldom associated to baby food even if there are so many salads that are baby friendly like the millet avocado one.

Your baby will love the smooth and creamy texture of the millet mixed with the avocado. Summer tomatoes (with low acidity and tons of sweetness) will add a fresh and light touch to the salad. Cucumbers will give a crunchy touch and finally, chia seeds, will enrich the salad with brain boosting Omega 3 fatty acids.

Millet is a seed that looks and tastes like a grain, but it’s not. Naturally gluten-free is easy to digest and rarely allergenic, great qualities for a baby first food.

Packed with protein, millet is rich in multiple vitamins, phosphorus, potassium, iron, and magnesium. Millet can be offered to your baby starting from 6 months of age.

Cooking millet is easy! In a large pan roast the millet seeds at medium heat for 2/3 minutes. The nutty flavor will pop out.

Add the water, reduce the heat to simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile prepare the other ingredients: peel the heirloom tomato and remove the seeds. Chop it in 1/2 inch cubes. Peel the avocado and chop it in small cubes too and do the same with the cucumber, slice and chop in small pieces. I suggest to use sun ripened tomatoes, Heirlooms would be great as they are naturally super sweet. Hass avocado is another great choice and Persian cucumbers, the skin is very soft and you don’t need to peel them.

Cucumbers will give a nice crunchy touch to the salad but if your little one is too young to eat them, you can simply skip the ingredient.

When the millet is cooked let it cool down 10 minutes and than place it in a large bowl all together with the other ingredients: tomato, avocado, cucumber. Add also the chia seeds. I dress the salad with balsamic vinegar reduction and Olive oil, nothing else.

If you are serving the salad to toddlers or adults you might want to adjust with salt. For little ones you can also create an even creamier texture simply mashing the salad with a fork to reduce the avocado and tomato to a puree.

The salad is a lovely idea for the end of the summer, when tomatoes are at their best. If you want to save time you can cook the millet in advance and store it in the refrigerator. When it’s time to prepare the salad simply add all the ingredients, it will save you some time!

Due to oxidation of tomatoes and avocado I would suggest not to have leftovers. If you end up with some, try to enjoy the rest of the salad in few hours.