Food For Baby

There are enough of you that have small children on here that I thought I'd throw this recipe on. It is great because you can serve it to your family and then just puree a bit for your baby. I think it tastes delicious and Gwen loves it.

Creamed Spinach

1 pound fresh spinach, washed and stemmed (I used a bagged variety and just stemmed them)
1 shallot, minced, or 1 T minced onion (I used minced onion)
1/4 C unsalted butter
1 T all-purpose flour
1 C heavy cream (I just used 2% milk)
1/4 C low-sodium chicken broth, for pureeing

1. Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the spinach with just the water that clings to its leaves. Add the shallot and cook, turning the spinach frequently with tongs, for about 3 min, until bright green. Remove the spinach and shallot from the pan and let cool. Finely chop and set aside.

2. In the same pan over medium-high heat, melt the butter and add the flour. Cook for 2 min, stirring constantly with a whisk. Decrease the heat to medium, add the cream, and whisk until smooth. Cook for 1 to 2 min. Add the spinach, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon until well blended.

3. For babies nine to twelve months, puree the mixture in a blender (I used food processor), adding the broth as needed until smooth. For older babies and adults, don't puree.

4. Serve warm. Freeze leftovers that won't be eaten the next day.

I got all the ingredients for this recipe at Aldi's. It's a very inexpensive side dish or main dish for my Gwen. I still have some left in the freezer and I feel good that it is healthy for her.