Strawberries and Asparagus for big and small

Spring is here, and even though we are all in quarantine, we can at least enjoy some of the great ingredients that are harvested at this time. In my case are strawberries and asparagus. It always gets a bit tricky to cook the same food for us three, as I am an adult, Pepa, a toddler, and Otis, a baby. So here is how I solve this including a video of it at the end.

As I am writing a book for some months now, one of the things I need to do is to try different kinds of cooking technics. KMB & Braun Household send me the Multiquick7 to try it out. I had a Stabmixer from Braun for 20 years, and it still works as if it was new. But much has changed in technology since 1999. And all the new features that it has made my life (with kids) nowadays easier. Now even more as I make all meals for us three at home.

Making meals for us three could be time-consuming if you can't make them at the same time. So this recipe won't take more time than a conventional method, and it will include a baby meal.

What you need for this recipe:

A steamer or a steam basket
2 cups strawberries
1 cup of apples in slices
10 asparagus
2 garlic cloves
lettuce
fresh spinach
1 egg 
200 ml of neutral oil
a squeeze of lemon juice 
white vinegar 
a handful pistachios 
salt and pepper
and a multiQuick7 of course

We start steaming now. Add the apples and 1 cup strawberries in the steamer or a pot with a steam basket. If your baby is 10 months old, you can add 1 asparagus. Add some water and let it steam until the apples are very soft. You can add some cinnamon to the water as well.

For the dressing, you need to make a mayonnaise first. This is super easy with the Multiquick 7. Check the video here or at my IGTV. Put in the glass the egg, oil, lemon, and insert the Multiquick 7 stab. Start blending with the Activeblade all the way down for a while until you see white coming up. Then lift the blade slowly until all is mixed and then push up and down until the consistency is perfect. This takes about a minute, and it is fools-proof. Add some vinegar to it until it reaches a dressing consistency. 

Change from the Activeblade to the mini processor and use it to make the pistachios small. You can use any other nuts, but I love how strawberries taste together with pistachios. 

Heat a pan with some oil and add the chopped garlic. Break the last part of the asparagus stems with your hands and fry them until they are golden and take them off the heat.

By now, the fruits should be done. If your baby has no teeth still, I would use the Activeblade again to make it very smooth, but in my case, I changed to the mashed potatoes accessory and puree it until the fruits were done. Put it aside and let it cool down.

In plates, add the lettuce and spinach, use the rest of the strawberries thinly cut, and the asparagus cut in 3 cm pieces. By now, the baby food will be at room temperature.

The cutest thing I got with this PR package was this lovely bib for Otis... Isn't it the cutest? I drool every time he wears it!

Now we are ready to eat. Add the vinaigrette/dressing over the salad and sprinkle the pistachio dust over it, and you are ready to eat.

As I never get to eat warm, because I need to feed Otis, and sometimes Pepa, at the moment, I am eating a lot of cold foods. This salad tastes delicious warm, or after some time sitting there.

Eating fresh food that has a similar taste to the food that you regularly eat, helps your kid develop the same taste in food as you have. This will help you in the future to avoid "food dramas" and unnecessary "double cooking."

Otis was a big fan of this food and couldn't get enough, Pepa had the salad and even got to help to feed Otis. This meant one spoon for her and one for him... kids!​

Here is a short video of how easy it was to make this spring meal at home using Braun´s Multiquick7. I hope you liked this and you will make it at home. Please tag me in your stories or posts to see how you did!