This is Tejal, filling in for Tanya — hello! I’ve missed you! I just got back from parental leave, which means that I’m now strategizing and scheming about what I’m going to eat each day with a sweet, sticky, roly-poly 6-month-old baby.
You could say I’m eating a more salted version of whatever she’s eating. Khichdi with yogurt! Broccoli aligot! Sweet potatoes with tahini butter (above)! But here’s what surprised me in the last few weeks: Anything that my husband and I cook for ourselves has the potential to be baby food, with some tweaks.
Sweet Potatoes With Tahini Butter
Hetty Lui McKinnon’s comforting butternut squash congee with chile oil is baby-friendly if you hold the chile oil. Pull a piece of paneer out of Priya Krishna’s beautiful coconut saag and mash it with a fork right into the greens. (You can watch Priya make the dish here.) And Melissa Clark’s adaptation of adas polo ba khorma becomes porridge-like if you simmer a half cup or so of the cooked lentils, rice and sweet onion-date mixture in stock.
So rather than keeping to soft dishes or plain-tasting foods, I’m looking for a wide variety of ingredients, textures and flavors. And if a dish really won’t work for the baby in its final form, the strategy is to find at least one tasty thing to take away from it during the cooking process — a piece of roasted carrot from this carrot tart can easily be set aside (and mashed with some melted butter) before the tart is put together.
By giving the baby tastes of what we make for ourselves, she’s been able to try so many different foods and get to know some spices without making extra work for us. It’s a joy to witness a little person trying new things without any prejudices whatsoever.
Each time she arrives at a new flavor, it’s with a completely open mind — curious, excited, expecting to be delighted. And when the baby likes something, it’s with her whole body, wiggling and squealing. What a way to live!
One More Thing!
Reading: The latest issue of Mother Tongue magazine; this super juicy story from James D. Walsh about high-level wine fraud; and, in the fiction department, “Real Americans” by my friend and former food writer Rachel Khong.
Watching: The writer Tien Nguyen recently recommended “Deadloch” to me, a darkly funny Australian crime series so fun that I was a bit sad when it ended. Fingers crossed for another season.
Listening: The Wild Flower Hotline is back! Also: Sam, Saeed and Zach on Vibe Check.
My colleague Priya Krishna is working on a story about the state of grocery shopping in America. If you’re interested in sharing your habits — your budget, your staples and details about where you shop and who for — you can reach out here.
Email us at theveggie@nytimes.com. Newsletters will be archived here. Reach out to my colleagues at cookingcare@nytimes.com if you have questions about your account.
