Garlic Parmesan Chicken and Cauliflower Mash

So Laela is over mushed food and is on to big girl goodies!  Since I don't want her to grow up a picky eater, or a Fatty McFatterson, I'm trying to feed her a wide variety of healthy, nutritious, natural, flavor-packed meals as possible.

The tricky thing with feeding an 8 month old is that I have to make sure it's easy for someone with only four teeth to chew.  Thankfully, she's really good at understanding that she needs to chew her food, and doesn't try to stuff her mouth and just swallow her food.

Kyle and Laela both LOVED this chicken recipe that I snagged from my Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution Cookbook:

Garlic Parmesan Chicken

This crumbing technique is so versatile—you can cook pork or even cod in exactly the same way. As there is butter in the crumb mixture, you can grill, fry, roast or bake the meat dry in the oven and it will turn lovely and golden.

Servings: Serves 2 (plus a peanut)

Ingredients:

1 clove garlic

1 lemon

6 cream or plain crackers , such as Jacob's

2 Tbsp. butter
4 sprigs fresh Italian parsley
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 heaping Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 large egg , preferably free-range or organic
2 skinless chicken breast fillets , preferably free-range or organic
Olive oil

Directions:

To prepare your chicken: Peel the garlic and zest the lemon. Put your crackers into a food processor with the butter, garlic, parsley sprigs, lemon zest and a pinch of salt and pepper. Whiz until the mixture is very fine, then pour these crumbs on to a plate. Sprinkle the flour on to a second plate. Crack the egg into a small bowl and beat with a fork. Lightly score the underside of the chicken breasts. Put a square of plastic wrap over each one and bash a few times with the bottom of a pan until the breasts flatten out a bit. Dip the chicken into the flour until both sides are completely coated, then dip into the egg and finally into the flavored crumbs. Push the crumbs on to the chicken breasts so they stick—you want the meat to be totally coated.

To cook your chicken: You can either bake or fry the chicken. If baking, preheat your oven to its highest temperature (475°), place your chicken on a sheet pan and cook for 15 minutes. If frying, put a frying pan on a medium heat, add a few good lugs of olive oil and cook the chicken breasts for 4 to 5 minutes on each side, until cooked through, golden and crisp.

To serve your chicken: Either serve the chicken breasts whole, or cut them into strips and pile them on a plate. Beautiful and simple served with a lemon wedge for squeezing over, and a tiny sprinkling of salt. Great with a lovely fresh salad or simply dressed veggies.

For a deliciously healthy side, try a cauliflower mash..if you're a little nervous, toss a potato in so that it has more of that yummy potato flavor that everyone loves!

Cauliflower Mash

1/2 head of cauliflower

salt and pepper (to taste)

2 Tb shaker parmesan cheese

butter (taste)

1 potato (optional- I prefer Yukon Gold)

Steam or boil cauliflower head until fork tender (it'll mush like a potato when ready).  If you want a potato in it as well, boil the potato until mashing soft.  Toss all of your ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend it all together. 

Laela really enjoyed "dipping" her chicken pieces in her mash!  (so did I!)  This is really great paired with some peas or broccoli.

Laela's first favorite food!

Last week was a doozy..my daughter woke up with a tooth..and then another tooth. We didn't realize that she was teething until the first one popped up. It kind of explained why her usually robust appetite had kind of waned.

Now my kiddo is back to being a hungry hungry girl, and let me tell you, when I made her some baby brown rice cereal with a teaspoon of applesauce, a half teaspoon of cinnamon, a quarter cup of mashed sweet potatoes, and a little water to make it creamier...she loved it! She got so worked up with every bite that she was reaching for the spoon for more, even when it was all gone! And trust me, I scraped that bowl clean!

The thing I love most about making mashed sweet potatoes for Laela, is that I get some! Mash some up for yourself, toss a little brown sugar, cinnamon and butter in and yum! When I'm craving something extra sweet, or am just missing my old Girlscouting days, I like to add some marshmallows and just torch them for a minute with my trusty mini torch (they come in most creme brulee kits).

I love this age. She's so curious, and everything is so new to her, that the excitement that comes with something that she's never done or had (flipping upside down, trying fish tacos off of Mommy's plate) is just priceless. There's something to be said for the fearlessness that comes with being a child- the ability to try new things without being grossed out at the prospect, or afraid because you know all of the scary possible results/consequences. Well, at least until she makes friends who will tell her things are gross, or stupid, or weird, and then she doesn't want to do it because they say it's not cool.

If you have a little one like I do, enjoy this time. Relish all those little moments that they'll never remember and you'll never forget...and don't be afraid to share your funky dish with your little one, because you never know, you might have a mini chef or foodie on your hands. : )