The Beat That My Heart Skipped – A blog dedicated to daily design inspirations. By Rohini Wahi.

This week I have the pleasure of introducing a brand new contributor, Louise Barnard. I came to hear about Louise and her company Baby Bites through Love Food.

Louise is a girl after my own heart, as she shares my strong belief in the importance of introducing babies to good healthy food. She also shares my passion for having all members of the family eating the one same meal. Starting your children on solid food can be both exciting and daunting. Regardless of cooking ability and know-how, most people want to cook healthy delicious meals for their children, but many just don’t know where to start. This is where Louise and her Bristol based company Baby Bites come to the rescue with their fantastic cookery workshops. The courses focus on all stages from weaning and beyond.

This week Louise is sharing her fool-proof recipe for Spanish Style Roast Chicken with Chickpeas and Red Peppers which is tailored for adults and babies! So whether you are 6 months or 60+ years you’ll love this recipe.

By the way, the beautiful pictures that illustrates this recipe are by Eat Pictures.

I will now hand you over to Louise, who will give you an insight into Baby Bites and, of course, the recipe.

Happy Cooking, Louise x

This is the first time I’ve contributed a recipe so I should introduce myself. My name’s Louise Barnard and I run cooking classes for parents with Baby Bites.

14 months ago I had a little boy, Oscar. Whilst weaning him and introducing him to real food, one of life’s great pleasures I realised there were lots of parents who were really struggling with this stage.  Instead of it being a really exciting time for them, it was daunting and worrying. There were lots of parents feeding their babies commercial pasturised baby food on a really regular basis.

Some were using it because they really felt they couldn’t cook. Other’s because, although they were competent at cooking for themselves, they didn’t have the confidence when it came to their baby’s food.  Finally a few believed that commercial jars of gloop really were best for their baby. They are labelled ‘organic’ after all.

One thing they all had in common though was that none of them would willingly eat what was in those jars themselves.

Several mums from my ante-natal group suggested that I teach them how to cook, well one thing led to another and eventually last October Baby Bites opened it’s door and so began my attempt to spread a little food love and get those babies [and their parents] eating some really yummy, homemade food.

I focus on recipes that are suitable for the whole family. The early years are when foundations are laid and attitudes are formed. Children are less likely to be fussy eaters if they are presented with a range of tastes, textures and flavours from a young age, which leads to healthy happy children who enjoy food in the future. For parents, it’s always going to be more time and cost effective if everyone in the family is eating the same thing and sitting down together to eat it.

The recipe I’ve chosen to share today is always a big hit with the all the family.  The great thing about it, is how simple it is, throw all the ingredients together and then pop it in the oven to do it’s thing. None of the measurements are exact, a bit more or a bit less of each will make little difference to the end result. I’ve served this to babies and as an alternative Sunday lunch for friends. I’m a big fan of using herbs and spices instead of salt to make food really tasty.  If you can’t get fresh herbs, dried are fine.

Spanish Style Roast Chicken with Chickpeas and Red Peppers

Suitable for babies from about 9 months onwards. This will make at least 8 good sized portions for a baby or toddler. Add a few more chicken pieces and some extra veggies if you’re cooking for the whole family.

Ingredients

One chicken leg – thigh and drumstick
1/2 can of chickpeas
1 can of chopped tomatoes
1 red onion chopped into chunks
½  a red pepper
1 carrot
¼ of a butternut squash peeled, seeds removed and diced
1 medium sweet potato scrubbed and chopped into chunks
A sprig of rosemary
A sprig of thyme
2 bay leaves
½ a mug of water or salt free stock
A good drizzle of olive oil
Some chopped parsley [optional]

Stage 1 – For the Whole Family

1. Pre-heat oven to 180c

2. Oil a medium, roasting dish.

3. Add all the chopped vegetables, chickpeas, tomatoes and bay leaves.

4. Put the chicken in the middle, skin side up,  gently nudge it down into the bed of veggies .

5. Add the stock or water- it should be about 2/3 of the way up the side of the dish.

6. Sprinkle with the rosemary and thyme and drizzle with olive oil.

7. Cover with foil or baking paper and put it in the oven for about 40 minutes.  It will happily steam away, cooking everything gently while all the flavours mingle.
8. You may want to check it about half way through, give the veggies a bit of a stir and baste the chicken with the cooking liquid.

9. After about 40 minutes, the vegetables should have softened and chicken should be cooked through. To check the chicken, insert a knife to the bone, the juices that run out should run clear with no pinkness.  If it’s not quite done, pop it back in for 10 more minutes.

10. Now to brown it all. Turn the temperature up to 220c and cook for a further 20 minutes. It is done when the veggies and chicken are golden.

11. Lovely served with some rice to soak up all the cooking juices and a green salad.

Stage 2 – For the Baby

1. When it’s cooked through, remove the foil or paper, give the veggies another mix and baste the chicken with the cooking juices.
2. Now to brown it all. Turn the temperature up to 220c and cook for a further 20 minutes.
3. It is done when the veggies and chicken are golden.
4. Leave to cool and remove the sprigs of herb.
5. When it’s cooled sufficiently to handle, remove the meat from the bones, mix with the veggies and roasting juices.

6.    Add a sprinkling of fresh parsley if you have it.
7. Blend or mash to your babies desired consistency.

Happy eating everyone! X