After my last article on building your child’s microbiome, I received several requests for gut-flora friendly recipes, foods that nourish gut bacteria. So let me start with an old favorite of mine: lentils. Near age 6 months, my children started with avocado as their first food and lentils were second. The beauty of this recipe, and my overall approach to nutrition, is that it grows with your child.
When starting with babies, my guidelines for routine cooking (and feeding) are straightforward:
Embrace Simplicity: The food starts simple, usually with a single ingredient.
Find Purpose: The food should serve some purpose beyond taste: Is this food an antioxidant? Is it a healthy fat? Is it iron rich? Is it strengthening my child’s microbiome? Is it shaping my child’s immune system? Is it providing a specific nutrient, like calcium?
Evolve: Food can grow to be more complex with the goal being that you and your child eventually eat the same food. Babies may start with single ingredient foods, but I find parents are often hesitant to add more goodness. My recipe for lentils is a guideline for most dishes: pick a base, whether it be chicken, garbanzo beans, lamb, or lentils, and then continue to add to it, exposing your child to more flavors, textures, nutrients, microbes, and fuel for said microbes.
Let’s see how my lentil recipe fits into the above framework:
Is it simple? We will start with red lentils (masser daal) as the base. Red lentils cook fast and are soft, making them a great first food. For a baby having lentils for the first time, this is the only ingredient.
What do lentils provide beyond taste? Iron, protein, flora-friendly fiber, and micronutrients like zinc and folate. Plus, lentils are anti-inflammatory.
How can this recipe evolve? A baby’s first exposure may be plain lentils, but next time, you can enhance the recipe with a vegetable or herb like carrots or celery or cumin. You could even add meat for more iron and protein.
Read on for the Base Recipe, Ideas for Add-Ons, and More Ideas to Evolve Your Recipe!
RECIPE:First Time Lentils (aka daal), A Simple recipe for a Baby’s Introduction To Solids
2 adult servings.
20 minutes cooking time.
I recommend batching and freezing for infants.
You Will Need:
1 cup red lentils (masser daal)
2-4 cups water (depending on how soupy you want it)
½-1 teaspoon salt to taste,optional
Instructions:
- Take the lentils and wash in a few cups of water to skim off any impurities.
- Pour off the washing water and place the lentils in a medium sized pot.
- Add the water for cooking.
- Bring to an initial boil and then let simmer for 20-40 minutes, until at your desired consistency.
- Puree or mash 1-2 tablespoons worth to feed your baby.
- Let cool and serve! Eat the same food yourself (with add-ins as described below) to role-model for your child and so you don’t have to make a second meal. Start the habit of Only One Meal early.
What your baby (and you!) gets:
- Iron
- Protein
- Fiber, Prebiotics
- Trace minerals like zinc, which supports the immune and skeletal systems
- Anti-inflammatory effects
Red lentils, Evolved. Adding Goodness, Step by Step
For babies just starting to eat, follow the general guidance of introducing one new food every 2-3 days, starting close to age 6 months. But remember, if your child tried carrots already, then it is no longer a new food. Go ahead and add some! Below are some ingredients you can incorporate to add flavor and nutritional value to your lentil dish.
- ½- 1 teaspoon turmeric (or chopped fresh turmeric) and black pepper
- ½ onion, chopped
- ½-1 teaspoon cumin seeds and/or coriander seeds
- Chopped garlic to taste
- Chopped ginger to taste
- 1 tomato, diced
- ½ bell pepper, diced
- Cilantro or parsley as garnish
Recipe Notes: Tips, Tricks, and Options
- Turmeric can be poured directly into the pot when you start cooking the lentils.
- Turmeric has anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties but without black pepper, turmeric is difficult for the body to absorb.
- Sauté the cumin first in a little olive oil. Then add vegetables, like onions.
- Onions, garlic, ginger, and/or tomatoes can be sautéed in olive oil prior to adding to cooked lentils.
- Tomatoes can be added to the mixture of onions, garlic and ginger.
- If you use fresh turmeric, chop and sauté it alongside ginger and garlic.
- Ginger and garlic may aid in digestion and perhaps reduce gas. Gas is not bad though! It is a sign your gut bacteria are fermenting the prebiotics in lentils.
- Although no consensus exists in Western medicine on the exact benefits of cumin and coriander, other cultures use these seeds regularly for their flavor and long-accepted nutritional and healing properties
- For a heartier meal, boil the lentils with rice (use 1 part rice for 4 parts lentils), quinoa, potatoes, or sweet potatoes.
- Traditionally, the base, or tadka, consisting of sautéed seeds, onions, garlic, ginger and/or tomatoes is cooked and spiced separately from the lentils, and then mixed together at the end. As a busy mother, however, I find that cooking it all together saves time and leaves you with one less pan to clean. It also gets the veggies all nice and mash-able, which is important for infants new to eating.
- With time, you can add any vegetables and spices you like. I remember when I chopped some baby bok choy into my oldest child’s lentils. Why not? She had no idea how much goodness she was getting—a cruciferous vegetable AND lentils? I gave myself a pat on the back.
- For older infants, kids, and adults, you can obviously start with all the ingredients at once and salt to taste. You may also want to add half to one spoonful of coriander powder or garam masala, a blend of Indian spices, usually based in coriander powder and black pepper. This will add flavor and nutrients from the variety of herbs and seeds present. Make sure to taste this before serving to young ones since, depending on the blend, some garam masalas can be very spicy. Varieties can be purchased at your local Indian store or on Amazon.
- Next Steps: Mix it up over time with various types of lentils. Some have more iron than others. Some take longer to cook than others. I like to start with red lentils or split moong (mung) because they cook quickly and may be digested a bit more easily than some of the other lentils.
Complete Proteins
The last point I want to make about lentils (and most beans) is that though they are rich in protein, in order to make a complete protein, such as that present in dairy, meat, eggs, and soy, lentils must be complemented with a whole grain, nuts, or seeds.This does not have to be during the same meal, but at some point during the day, it is a good idea to get a grain in to ensure that you or those you are feeding have access to all their essential amino acids. For babies under a year, this is not so much an issue because they are getting a complete protein in their breast milk or formula.
Takeaways
- Think of food beyond taste. What value is your food providing?
- Recipes can evolve as your child grows and develops.
- Adding more flavor usually means adding more nutrients. Keep going!
- Eat a version of the food you are feeding your child. This normalizes the concept of everyone in the household eating the same meal. Your future self will thank you!
Thank you for reading my human-generated and human-researched articles! If you found this helpful or educational, please share, follow on your preferred platform or subscribe below. For coaching or consultations, please contact me at www.DrAngel.com.
References:
Alexander, Rachel et al. “Health-promoting benefits of lentils: Anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial effects.” Current research in physiology vol. 7 100124. 5 Mar. 2024, doi:10.1016/j.crphys.2024.100124
