Green beans chicken and avocado baby puree

Avocado, chicken and green beans: three delicate ingredients, all appropriate for a baby, starting from 6 months.

Few reasons to like this green baby puree’:

GREEN BEANS are a wonderful source of calcium, vitamin A and manganese. Very easy to digest.

I prefer to use fresh and seasonal green beans. I pick thick, firm ones at the farmers’ market, with a bright green color and without brown spots. When you wash them remember to remove both the stem and the curved ends. Also remove the long string that goes through the length from end to end.

Only one note: if your baby has gas issues very often I would suggest not to offer him any beans (green beans included) until after 12 months when his digestive system will be more developed.

Steamed and chopped in 1 inch sticks are a perfect finger food for toddlers 😉

AVOCADO Ripe and creamy avocados are a wonderful first food for babies. I really like the Hass variety, so intense in flavor and extra creamy. In addition to the texture, the nutritional value of the avocado makes it very appropriate for babies. Natural source of Omega 3 fatty acids (good for baby’s brain development) and folate. In addition to that I really like avocados because, like bananas, they are easy to transport, easy to store and you do NOT need to cook them!!!! An instant and healthy meal for your little one when you run out of time 😉

CHICKEN A wonderful source of animal proteins and iron, tender and very delicate in taste. One of the easiest meat to digest for your baby. That’s why I like to insert it in the “First foods” list.

Chicken is also known to have anti-inflammatory and immune system boosting properties, all good properties for babies too.

The quality of the chicken you will buy is extremely important. I strongly recommend organic, cage free, free range, without hormones or antibiotics. I know that all these labels can be confusing and redundant and I found that the best way to buy is to trust who you are buying from. Either a grocery store chain or a local store or a local farmer (farmers’ markets are a great way to really know the producers).

The green beans + avocado + chicken baby food recipe is perfect also when you want to cook one meal for the whole family. You can serve roasted chicken breast with green beans side to the adults and the baby puree to your little one 😉 Same ingredients, same cooking process (just no salt added for the baby).

Here you are the ingredients for 2 adults and 4 baby meals:

And that’s how to proceed:

– preheat the oven at 350F/180C degrees. Divide a full chicken breast with skin and bones in two half. Gently rub both sides with few tablespoons of Extra Virgin Oil of Olive

– Add a pinch of salt (on both sides) only to one chicken breast, the one that you will cook for the family

– Place the chicken breasts on a parchment paper on a baking sheet and cook them in the oven for 45/50 minutes.

– Meanwhile wash the green beans, cut the ends and remove the long string on the length. Chop the green beans in three parts.

– Place them on a parchment paper on a small baking dish and drizzle some Extra Virgin Oil of Olive on top.

– 15 minutes after placing the chicken in the oven add the green beans too and cook both of them for 30 minutes (so that the chicken will cook for 45’’, the green beans for 30’’).

– Remove chicken and greens from the oven. Place the salted chicken breast on a serving dish with some green beans on the side. This will be the family meal.

– Take the unsalted chicken breast, remove the skin and the bones and chop it in big chunks.

– Place the unsalted chicken breast in a food processor and add 1 cup of vegetable broth and 1/2 cup of green beans. If you want to prepare a simple homemade vegetable broth, check this video recipe. Let the food processor work for few minutes in order to obtain a smooth consistency. The green beans “skin” can be a bit annoying for a little baby palate. That’s why I recommend to puree’ the green beans very well with the hand blended or food processor or mixer. You want to obtain a smooth puree’. If you are not satisfied by the final consistency you can always mash the puree’ through a strainer in order to remove any green beans “skin” residual.

– Cut a ripe avocado in cubes. Add 4 cubes in a cup (2 Tbsp) and mash them with a fork.

– Add 4 Tbsp of chicken/green beans mix. Your baby puree is ready to be served.

How to store extra baby puree’. You can store in the freezer the chicken/green beans mix leftovers in air tight containers for up to 3 months.

I suggest not to freeze the avocado, but to add it at the very last moment when you are going to serve the puree’ to your baby. It’s fresher and creamier.

Enjoy!