My boy has been showing active interest at nomming on my bowl of warm stir-fried veggies. He seems to like the texture of the seasoned par cooked veggies against the bite of the crisp little croutons. So I decided it was time for him to eat his own share of a veggies only dinner.
I seldom do a veggies only meal for him since typical Indian meals consist of curried vegetables eaten with a chapati/roti and finished off with some dal (lentil) rice. It’ll be stir-fry veggies or warm salads with soups on days we don’t want to go traditional. So naturally, I was pretty happy when he took well to his meal without creating a fuss.
On the menu:
- Bottle gourd & red pumpkin soup with celery garnish
- Stir-fried veggies topped with a sweet mustard dressing and croutons
Bottle gourd and Pumpkin soup
Ingredients:
- One part bottle gourd, skin removed and chopped
- One part red pumpkin, chopped (note: The quantity of ingredients I take depends on the quantum of soup I want to make)
- 1 Teaspoon ghee
- Pinch of garam masala (optional)
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Chopped celery leaves for garnish
Method:
- In a sauce pan sauté the bottle gourd and pumpkin
- Add in the condiments
- Splash in a little water to cook the veggies
- Add in a cup of water and bring to a quick boil
- Take it off the gas and once cool, blend to a smooth consistency
- Pour back into a container and add water until you’ve reached the desired consistency
- Bring to a boil and adjust the salt level according to preference
- Garnish with celery
- Serve warm
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Stir-fried veggies:
Ingredients:
Select the veggies of your choice and chop to the desired size. I chose the following:
- Mushrooms
- Zucchini
- Broccoli
- Red pepper
- Yellow pepper
- Spinach
- 2 cloves of garlic
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Olive oil
Method:
- In a pan sauté the garlic in olive oil until soft
- Add in the veggies in the order of their cooking time (slowest to the fastest)
- Fry until fully soft or par-cooked, however your toddler prefers it. Also, I sautéed the mushrooms and wilted the spinach separately and then added them to the rest of the mix.
- Season as per taste
- Turn off the gas
- Splash in the desired amount of dressing of your choice
- Top off with cheese and mini croutons
- Serve warm
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Sweet mustard dressing
Ingredients:
- Yoghurt, whisked and thinned to desired consistency. Thick for dips and sandwich fillers, thin for salads, stir-fries etc.
- Olive oil
- Chopped garlic chives or garlic finely chopped
- Salt, pepper and sugar to taste
- A small quantity of mustard paste
Method:
- Combine all ingredients until you have a smooth dressing like consistency
Use as:
- Salad dressing
- Wraps dressing
- Sandwich filler dressing
- Dip
