Peas, Please!

Fall reminds me of squash, beans and peas. Dried, split peas are high in folate and thiamin, and are good sources of phosphorus and potassium, but otherwise are not loaded with nutrition, so they are a good paired with other vegetables, fruit or meat. This is also an economical dish as lots of farmer's markets carry Organic dried split peas in bulk; usually averaging between 30 and 50 cents per 1/2 cup of peas.

This is a super simple recipe that uses dried peas, so the ingredients are easy to keep on-hand. The peas come out creamy and sweet, and are great when combined with chicken, carrots, rice cereal, yogurt or squash.

Baby's Age: 6 months, 8 months

Consistency: pureed

Creamy Peas

If preparing as a first food, has your baby had chicken in the past? If not, you may want to use 2 cups of water and no broth.

1/2 cup Organic split dried peas
1 cup sodium-free or low sodium Organic chicken broth
1 cup water

Place peas, chicken broth and water in a small pot and cover with a lid. Bring peas to a simmer and cook, covered for 45 -50 minutes stirring every once in awhile to make sure the peas don't stick. When peas are done, they should be creamy and very easily smashed; there should be no bite to the peas.

Allow peas to cool and puree in food processor until peas are a creamy, smooth consistency. Serve! Leftovers make enough to fill an ice cube tray to be frozen for later use.