Salmon and Quinoa Pasta / Pie (Gluten free)

Salmon & Quinoa Pasta

It's been some time since I've last blogged about recipes for my toddler son. I think I have been less adventurous with recipes now and more occupied with his daily activities. Happikiddo had recently launched a contest searching for an all-time thumb-up recipe for our little cutie pies. I have decided to enter my son's favorite fish pie recipe into the contest. It's a very healthy and balanced meal as each serving alone meets the recommended vegetable intake for a child aged 1 to 4 years. In addition, I incorporate 'quinoa' the illustriously known supergrain in making the creamy pumpkin sauce for the fish pie. It is so creamily delicious no one would suspect it is actually this 'healthy'! At least my husband never suspected it. 

I am sure I have written or blogged about quinoa some time back, but there's no harm talking about this good stuff, as good stuff like this always need a gentle nudge. Quinoa (pronounced as 'keen-wah', is in fact not a grain, but a complete protein in the form of amino acids, in other words, they are very easy to digest and are essential for development and growth. If your diet lacks of protein eg fish, tofu or meat, then consider adding quinoa into your diet.

Quinoa for babies and kids 

Quinoa is hypoallergenic (less likely to cause an allergy), thus making it suitable for young infants. Quinoa may be introduced to baby from 8 months onwards although many babies do tolerate it prior to 8 months. This nutritious-dense ingredient makes a great addition to your little one's diet and it is very versatile. You can cook and serve it as puree, or congee (porridge) or in this case, a creamy sauce. It is packed with fiber, calcium, iron and folate, making it a great option for parents who find it tough to get their kids to eat vegetables.

I have made this creamy quinoa and pumpkin sauce many times and have served it with mashed potato topping (as salmon & quinoa pie - somehow the presentation makes the entire dish very attractive to a little kid), or pasta or even rice.

There is no need to add thickener like cornflour to thicken it up as the addition of quinoa turns it into a perfect consistency, somewhere between a creamy soup and a sauce.

If you like this healthy and delicious recipe, kindly give me a LIKE on the following facebook photo link. Huge thank you in advanced.

https://www.facebook.com/Happikiddo/photos/a.821843814580232.1073741866.330671603697458/837824239648856/?type=3&theater

Here's my recipe for my salmon, quinoa and pumpkin sauce
(By all means, replace salmon with other fish or meat)

• 150g salmon, cubed 
• 1/2 small onion, cubed
• 100g pumpkin or butternut squash, cubed 
• 1/4 cup quinoa, rinsed 
• 1 1/4 cup vegetable stock, homemade 
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced 
• 1 knob of butter / grapeseed oil to pan fry the garlic and fish 

Instructions: 

1. Steam-cook cubed onion, pumpkin, and quinoa in a pot / rice cooker with the vegetable cook (about 20 minutes). Once cooked, transfer all to a blender, pulse for 2-3 minutes or until the sauce turns creamy. Set aside. 
2. In a frying pan, heat up butter or oil. Stir in finely minced garlic and sautee till fragrant. Stir in cubed salmon. Cook for about 2 min. 
3. Pour in creamy pumpkin and quinoa sauce. Simmer for another 2-5 min. 
4. Serve with mashed potato, pasta or rice. 

To make the salmon and quinoa pie: 

Boil potato till tender. Mash with salt or pepper (optional) and butter, milk and cheese. 

To assemble the pie, divide the salmon and quinoa pumpkin sauce between 3 ramekin dishes. Top with mashed potato. To achieve a nice golden color, brush top of pie with beaten egg mixture and bake in a preheated oven at 180deg C for 10 to 20 min. 

Easy chicken bolognese for toddler

Bolognese sauce, other than creamy mushroom sauce, is a staple recipe in my kitchen. I usually whip up bigger portion of it and serve it over a few days, or sometimes, I even freeze portions of it, and use them when I am out of food for the little fella. It's so versatile. It is perfect with pasta, also goes well with rice as pasta bake or just simply rice and sauce, I have also used them as the filling for sheperd's pie under mashed potato. This round, I served it with cous cous. This is also the first time the lil' fella is having cous cous as his main meal. 

To prepare the chicken bolognese sauce: 

• 2-3 cloves garlic, finely minced 
• 1/2 onion, finely minced 
• 1/3 medium sized carrot, finely chopped 
• 4 tomato, lightly scored at the bottom, and boiled in a pan of boiling water for 2min to remove the skin, then finely chopped
• 1/4 chicken breast, minced and marinated with dash of orange juice, pinch of salt and liquid amino 
• 1 cup of chicken stock, homemade 
• Seasoning eg balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper etc (optional) 

Instructions: 

1. Heat up a pan with 1-2 tbsp of cooking oil, I use a choice of rice bran oil or grapeseed oil. 
2. Stir in minced garlic and onion, fry till aromatic, about 1-2min. 
3. Stir in minced chicken and chopped carrot. Stir fry for about 1-2min. 
4. Stir in skinned and chopped tomato. 
5. Pour in chicken stock. Gently simmer for about 15 to 20min for flavor to develop. 
6. Season with choice of seasoning.  

To prepare the cous cous:

• Place 1 cup of cous cous in a flat container. 
• Pour in 1 cup of  hot boiling water or hot boiling stock into the container with cous cous in it. 
• Cover with lid for 1-2min. Open up. Fluffy with fork. Ready to serve!  

Animal pasta bake with creamy roasted veg sauce (Safari pasta by Mogli)

Encourage healthy eating and active learning at the same time 

My boy loves animals. I think now at 21mo, he knows at least 50 animals' name if not more. I love this organic animal pasta by Mogli (product of Germany). It only needs about 10 minutes of boiling and the pasta is soft. The thing about my son, he wants to know what he's eating. For every bite he takes, he will look at it, and tell out it's chicken or fish, or egg, in this case, it's animal's name, ie lion, crocodile, monkey, bear bear, elephant etc. I found it difficult to identify the animals when it isn't cooked. But interestingly, they are more easily distinguished once cooked. 

This recipe was made for his Sunday's late lunch. I prepared the sauce in the morning and baked it around noon time while he was having nap with his dad. When it was done, I just left it out on his little dining table so my hubby could let him eat it when he woke. Oh.. I went out with my mom to the hospital to visit a close family friend who got hospitalized. When I got back, I found out that he almost finished (okay.. he ate about 80% of the dish) which was great (that means he loved it) and it was quite a decently big portion for his little tummy. 

Here's the recipe 

First, prepare these vege to be roasted 

• 3 tomato, skinned and cubed 
• 80g pumpkin, cubed 
• half a cob of sweetcorn, kerneled 
• half a zucchini, cubed
• 3 cloves garlic, finely minced 
• half an onion, finely minced 

Thoroughly combine these prepared vege in a baking tray with the following marinade and cover with alum foil

• 2-3 tbsp basil-infused olive oil 
• pinch of salt and pepper 
• 1/2 tsp pizza and pasta seasoning herbs (optional) 

Preheat the oven to 180deg C. Roast the above veg for about 45min to an hour or until all the veg are soft. 

Leave to cool. 

Once cooled, puree the veg to turn into sauce. Add water or milk if the veg is too thick to be pureed. 

Cook the safari pasta (about 2-3 tbsp) in boiling water. 

Once cooked, combine the pasta with the roasted vege sauce with a tablespoon of cream cheese and serve. 

*I baked it a little in order to keep the dish warm. 

Pasta with creamy mushroom and oat sauce (5 ingredients pasta sauce)

The happy lil' fella :)

Aside than the creamy tomato and pumpkin sauce, this is my favorite pasta sauce that I always make for the lil' fella. It's easy to prepare with just a few simple ingredients and it is yummy especially when served with shaved parmesan or just grated cheese. Sometimes, I add more milk or water to it, and turn it into a soup, served with toast. I have also used it as sauce for pasta bake. Very versatile indeed. I don't add salt into it, still standing firm that his food shall not need to be seasoned with salt, before he reaches two year old. The garlic and onion gives it the mild savory note. Of course, the final addition of cheese (but it's optional) makes it yummilicious!

I have made this sauce with potato and mushroom. This time, I added in rolled oat instead of potato. The addition of rolled oat makes it thicker and creamier without the need of adding in flour. It also boost up its nutrition count and dietary fiber content.

All you need for this creamy and healthy pasta sauce are:

• 3tbsp rolled oat soaked in half cup of full cream fresh milk
• 1 cup of water or stock
• 5 - 7 fresh brown button mushrooms, cleaned and chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• Half an onion, finely minced

Instructions:

1. Heat up 1-2 tbsp cooking oil (I used rice bran oil) in a heated frying pan. Stir in minced garlic and onion till onion turns translucent. Stir in chopped mushrooms. Cook until mushrooms sweat.
2. Add in rolled oat with the soaking milk and water or stock.
3. Simmer on low heat for about 10-15min or until the mushrooms turn soft. Season with pepper and salt (optional).
4. In a food processor or blender, blitz the sauce till creamy. Serve with cooked pasta sprinkled with shaved parmesan or grated cheddar.

Options:

• Serve with cooked vegetables eg broccoli, carrot or sweetcorn that is pre-cooked in another pot of boiling water or steam-cooked.
• This sauce is suitable for freezing for 2-3 weeks. Prior to serving, thaw in refrigerator and heat till piping hot.



Pasta with creamy broccoli sauce/ soup

The lil' fella had been refusing to eat his broccoli lately! To avoid him wasting the remaining broccoli I have in the fridge, I decided to turn them into pasta sauce. Any kid that refuses vege wouldn't know this super creamy and yummy pasta sauce has veg in it.

Ingredients (this makes about 3 baby's meal portion)

• 1 stalk of broccoli, cleaned and cut into florets
• 2 small size potato, peeled and cut into cubes
• 1 cup of water or vegetable stock or 1/2 water 1/2 milk
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 onion, minced
• 1tbsp butter

Instructions

In a pot of boiling water, cook cubed potato and cut broccoli till soft (about 5min). Drain off and set aside.

Heat up a soup pot, or fry pan. Add in the butter. When it starts to sizzle, stir in the minced garlic and onion. When the garlic and onion are brown and fragrant, add in boiled potato and broccoli. Saute for another 1-2 minute.

Add in water/ stock. Simmer for another 5 minutes.

Bring the mix to a blender and blend until creamy and smooth.

Serve with cooked pasta or serve as soup.

He told me he was going to board the airplane and waved me 'bye'.

This post is linked to the event Little Thumbs Up (June 2014 Event: Butter) organised by Zoe (Bake for Happy Kids) and Mui Mui (My Little Favourite DIY) and hosted by Jozelyn Ng (Spice Up My Kitchen)" 

Spaghetti with tomato & almond pesto

It's been a long time since I made pesto, cos I haven't bought Parmesan or pine nuts for a long time, and the Thai basil outside in my garden are not thriving well. But who says pesto has to be made with Parmesan or pine nuts, it can be done nicely with any cheese and any nice nuts or even seeds. This time, I actually made them with tomato, so it isn't a green pesto but a red pesto. Tastes equally nice, if not nicer!

 

Again, this pesto sauce is very versatile. I served it with pasta and season with lots and lots of grated Cheddar. My son and I are huge fans of cheese. I've also served it with breakfast pancakes I made this morning and made it into a breakfast pancake lasagna.

 

 

Here's my son, who had gone nuts over the roasted almonds I'd prepared for this pesto sauce. I wasn't very willing to let him snack on them cos there are still  risk of choking even though I did chop them into little pieces. But we've run out of snacks or bread or cakes at home!! Nothing!! Not even fruit! Darn. And he seems hungry. So I let him, in the end. He loved them!



Here's the recipe for the very versatile and delicious tomato pesto, you can make double or triple portions of this, and it'll keep for 10 days in refrigerator.

• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2tbsp roasted almond or raw almond
• few basil leaves/ Thai basil leaves
• 1/2 cup of basil oil (see photo below)
• 1-2tbsp Parmesan (I don't have this, so I omitted them, but I serve this sauce with lots of grated Cheddar) 

1. Steam everything, except for the oil and cheese until the tomato turns soft.
2. Blitz in a food processor, slowly drizzle in oil and Parmesan, until it achieves a creamy consistency. May adjust with more or less oil to get the consistency wanted.

Organic basil oil, also known as pistou in Provence, its full bodied aroma makes it great with salad, or homemade vinaigrettes and sauces like this.

Pasta with spinach cream sauce (baby food)

 



This is my baby's dinner. Don't you think it looks really 'gourmet'? It looks like an expensive dish served at a posh fine-dining restaurant. Hohooo.. no, it's not. It's a simple dinner I whipped up for my adorable little fella. It's actually a very protein-rich creamy sauce pureed from sautéed spinach, potato and black eyed beans (called 眉豆in Chinese), served with brown rice shell pasta and grated Cheddar cheese.

 

Again, it's a meat-free dish, my son doesn't eat a lot of meat, so I had to ensure that he gets sufficient amount of protein and iron from his meals, in this case, he gets plenty of them from the spinach (for the iron) and the black eyed beans (for the protein). Black eyed beans, unlike many other beans like adzuki (red) beans or mung beans, are easy to cook and has a lower tendency of causing gas. I have made black eyed bean puree for the lil' fella when he was under one. It actually tastes sweet and has a nice creamy consistency. Other than its high protein and fiber content, black eyed beans are also rich in folate, making it a great pregnancy food or snacks too.

 

Black eyed beans doesn't require soaking prior to cooking. But soaking it would make it easier to cook/ soften. It only took me about 15min (in a pressure cooker) to cook it till soft, without mushing it. The black eyed beans used in this recipe are pre-cooked. I usually cook a big batch of the beans and freeze them in individual portion and use them in sauces (like this), salads or soups.

 

To prepare this, you'll need:

• 2-3 tbsp. cooked brown rice pasta
• 1cup spinach
• 2tbsp pre-cooked black eyed bean
• Half a medium size potato, skinned and cubed
• 2clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 onion, minced 
• 1-2tbsp rice bran oil (or other cooking oil / butter)  
• 1cup water / stock
• 2tbsp fresh milk / cream (optional)

Instructions:

1. Heat up a pan / wok and heat up the cooking oil.
2. Stir in minced garlic and onion and sautee until fragrant.
3. Stir in potato, cooked black eyed bean and spinach. Sautee for about 2-3min.
4. Pour in water or stock. Simmer for about 15-20min or until the potatoes turn soft.
5. In a blender, puree the sauce till it achieves a creamy consistency. Add in milk or cream.
6. Serve with pasta and season with grated Cheddar.

 

Aside from serving this sauce with pasta, I have also used it to bake a spinach loaf and make sandwich spread.

 

Spinach loaf with mung bean

 

Sandwich with spinach and cheese spread

 



 

To make the spinach and cream spread:

• 2tbsp of the spinach and black eyed bean sauce
• 3tbsp grated Cheddar cheese

Heat up the spinach sauce in a microwave (1min) or a heated pan. Stir in grated Cheddar. Use as sandwich spread.

Pumpkin pesto chicken bolognese

Very delicious with parmesan.

 

Hubby's brunch

 

This is recently my favorite meal for the lil' fella. It's easily done, very convenient and very delicious. Most importantly, I can make the same dish and it feeds all of us (me, hubby and the lil' fella).

 

This is what I do to prepare it in the morning.

 

1. Steam cubed pumpkin with minced chicken, season with homemade pesto sauce. Also add some milk and dash of olive oil to make it saucy.

2. When the chicken is cooked and pumpkin turns soft, mash the pumpkin with a folk. Add more pesto sauce if needed. Serve with grated cheese or parmesan.

 

For the lil' fella, I pack the cooked pasta and sauce in two different container. So the nanny can add the sauce into the pasta when she needs to feed him later on.

 

For me and hubby, I just add the sauce into the cooked pasta and top with lots of parmesan.

Cashew nut and basil pesto

 

 

I love pesto. All sorts of pesto. Green pesto red pesto or the Hakka pesto. Hakka pesto? Oh yea.. at times, I realized all nations are very similar in terms of their food and cooking skills. The Italian makes creamy pesto from nuts and herbs, so does the Chinese. My mom is a Hakka (河婆 to be more specific), and there's this traditional dish called lui cha (or translated as Thunder Tea rice) which I love love love!!, and it's also made from nuts (peanuts) and herbs (usually, Asian basil, mint and mugwort).

 

I used to lug back pesto sauces whenever I go travelling, the furthest was from Italy, and it's still residing in my fridge (I guess jarred sauces can last very long). But when I started making my own pesto sauces, I never gone back to eating jarred sauces, even if they are Italy! :p

 

I have waited for about 7 months before I can finally test nuts on the lil' fella (he's now 13mo). Nuts are so versatile, it would be gutted if he can't eat it. But hooray!! He's fine with it. And he loves this pesto sauce. This is usually steamed and served with mashed pumpkin and minced chicken with pasta. I also prepare this as his lunch at the nanny's.

 

Recipe:

1cup of organic cashew nuts, lightly toasted in an oven

about 1.5cup of virgin olive oil

2cup of basil leaves (I used Thai basil leaves, cos they are abundant in my garden)

dash of salt and pepper

 

1. Toast cashew nuts until it turns golden brown. (Do not burn them!)

2. In a blender, blitz cashew nuts with basil leaves, olive oil and season with salt and pepper. (You may blitz it till it turns really creamy or leave it with a little gritty texture).

3. Store in a glass jar and finish within 10 days (store in refrigerator).

 

 

Roast chicken salad with Japanese goma dressing and tahini spread

I used to love buying Japanese goma dressing from the shop. It's not easily available in Sandakan, so I usually buy them back when I travel elsewhere.

 

When I found out that I still have lots of white sesame seeds unused, I thought of making tahini spread (white sesame butter, the healthier of peanut butter).. then I came across Nami's site which taught about how to make our own Japanese goma dressing. I tried making it, it turned out just as good as the ones I bought from outside.

 

Roasted white sesame seeds blended with sesame oil.

 

 

 

Recipe adapted from Nami's

 

Ingredients:

• 3tbsp white sesame, I used organic ones, pre-toasted in an oven for abt 5min at 175deg C 
• 2tbsp mayonnaise
• 2tbsp brown rice vinegar
• 1.5tbsp soy sauce (I used Bragg's liquid amino)
• 1tsp honey (or more for sweeter one)
• 1/2 tbsp toasted sesame oil, organic

I added more sesame oil to mine so that it's more liquid and runny.

 

Blend the toasted white sesame seeds with sesame oil and honey. Then season with the rest of the ingredients. To make it easier to blend, let the toasted sesame cool down and store in the fridge before blending.

 

 

Recipe for the tahini spread (or my healthier version of peanut butter)

• 2cups of white sesame seeds, toasted in oven at 175deg C for abt 5min
• 8-10tbsp of toasted sesame oil, organic
• 2-4tbsp of honey

When my hubby ate a bread I made using this tahini spread, he was sooo sure it was peanut butter. Hohoooo.. I'm impressed. Try it. It seriously taste like peanut butter. You may also replace the sesame oil to other oil that's not that strongly flavored, like grapeseed or sunflower seed oil.

 

Btw, do you pronounce it se-sa-me (say-sem-mee) or see-same? It's definite the first one for me.