Tag: No Added Salt

Tofu Pasta Bake

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The Summer holidays are upon us, and I’m sure we’ll all be in need of inspiration for family friendly recipes! 

I created this recipe for baby and child nutritionist Charlotte Stirling-Reed and it is an absolute winner. It’s really easy to prepare – all in one dish, filled with nutrition and flavour with no added salt making it the perfect family-friendly recipe!

Serves a family of 4

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp mixed chopped fresh or frozen herbs e.g. basil, sage, oregano, thyme OR 1.5 tsp dried mixed herbs
  • 3 garlic cloves, grated OR 1 tsp dried garlic powder
  • 250g orzo or other short pasta with a cooking time of around 12 minutes
  • 400g chopped cherry tomatoes* OR 1 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
  • 1 red onion sliced** OR 120g frozen chopped onion
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 block of soft set (silken) tofu (350g)
  • 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 1 tsp basil (fresh or frozen)

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 160°C fan/180°C convection.
  2. Mix the onion and olive oil together in a separate bowl.
  3. Add the mixed herbs, garlic and orzo to a large ovenproof dish with 500ml boiling water and mix to evenly distribute.
  4. Add the tomatoes over the top, the tofu in the centre and spread the onions out around the tofu.
  5. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes.
  6. Once cooked through add the nutritional yeast, extra basil and mix everything together before serving.
Tofu Pasta Bake

*For small babies and children cut the tomatoes into quarters

**For small babies and children cut the onion into small squares 

Roasted Pumpkin and Cannellini Soup

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This easy soup also doubles up as an easy pasta sauce – win win! It’s naturally vegan if using a suitable stock powder, and if you use a no added salt stock cube it is suitable for babies and toddlers.

Serves 6

Ingredients

  • 600g pumpkin, skin on and cubed
  • 2 large onions, cut into 8ths
  • 2 sticks of celery, chopped
  • 1 tin of cannellini beans
  • 4 garlic cloves, skin left on
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 700ml no added salt stock
  • 100ml boiling water
  • 20g pumpkin seeds, finely chopped if serving to young babies

Method

  • Add the pumpkin, onion, celery, beans, garlic and olive oil to a large roasting tray.
  • Mix well before roasting in a preheated oven set to 180°C fan/ 200°C convection, stirring halfway through.
  • Once cooked, remove the garlic from its skin.
  • Bring the stock up to the boil and add the roasted vegetables, deglazing the roasting tin with 100ml boiling water.
  • Bring the mixture back up to a boil before blending till smooth.
  • Serve with a sprinkle of pumpkin seeds.

Option to serve as a pasta sauce by stirring through freshly cooked pasta. Delicious with a sprinkle of nutritional yeast which is a great source of B vitamins and zinc.

Serve as soup, pasta or baby-led weaning pasta finger food

Per serving of soup: 175kcal/ 8.5g fat/ 1.3g saturated fat/ 17.0g carbohydrates/ 6.0g fibre/ 4.8g protein

Smokey Baked Beans

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Making your own baked beans can be so satisfying and give you greater control over what goes into them. A quick investigation into baked beans sold in UK supermarkets shows that the average 200g portion of standard baked beans will contain 1g of salt (ranging up to a staggering 1.6g).

It’s Salt Awareness Week (8th-14th March 2021), which aims to highlight the reduction of salt intakes. The UK recommendation is a maximum of 6g salt per day. However, the National Diet & Nutrition Survey showed that the average person was eating 8.4g salt in 2018-2019.

The greatest contributors to salt in our diet comes from processed foods and includes bread, cheese, and meat products such as bacon. Around 8% of our salt intakes comes from pre-prepared vegetables such as frozen chips, mashed potatoes and tinned produce. Watch out for tinned beans, pulses and vegetable is water with added salt. Additionally, watch out for tinned tomato products which add salt in. While salt is a preservative, it is not really needed in these products.

If you are looking to reduce your salt intake, you might find things taste a little bland at first. After a few weeks your tastebuds will become more sensitive to salt. You can always add other flavours to food to help in this transition period; try adding herbs, spices, lemon/lime juice or pepper to your meal.

These homemade baked beans contain a fraction of the salt content of their tinned counterparts, containing just 0.14g per 200g serving. Not only that, but you’ll also benefit from 8.7g of fibre and 11 different plant foods for fibre diversity. In addition, my baked beans are naturally sweetened using a carrot and smoked paprika, meaning there’s no added sugar to these beans either.

Store any leftover beans in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days, or alternatively freeze in handy portions ready for a quick and easy meal.

Makes 7 portions

Ingredients

  • 2 large garlic cloves, roughly chopped
  • 1 large carrot (100g), grated
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 500g passata
  • 2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1/2 tsp ground white pepper
  • 1/4 tsp mixed herbs
  • 1/2 tsp white wine vinegar
  • 2 tbsp tomato puree
  • 1 tin of haricot beans in water
  • 2 tins of mixed pulses in water

Method

  • Add the garlic, carrots and oil to a large pan and cook over a gentile heat for 5 minutes till softened.
  • Add the passata, herbs and spices, vinegar, tomato puree and 100ml water. Cook for a further 15-20 minutes over a low heat till the carrots become soft.
  • Blend to a smooth sauce and add the beans.
  • Cook over a low heat with the lid on for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Per 200g serving 163kcal/ 3.4g fat/ 0.6g saturated fat/ 19.9g carbohydrates/ 8.7g fibre/ 9.5g protein/ 0.14g salt