This week, we welcome Guest Blogger, Aileen Cox Blundell, who shares her divine recipes for all the family. And best of all, they're super-healthy, sugar-free and nutritious too.
Brussels sprouts are one of those vegetables that are loved by few and hated by many. It’s hard enough to get adults to eat them let alone kids, but I have challenged myself to create a recipe that my entire Brussels Sprout-hating family
will love.
Despite the hatred, Brussels sprouts are little Christmas powerhouses, packed with a multitude of nutrients, so I really wanted to introduce them to my toddler before he became any the wiser. Research has proven that taste buds can be trained and by introducing a wide variety of foods from an early age babies grow up with a love of healthy foods.
This recipe is ideal for your leftover turkey which is sautéed with ginger, garlic and sprouts. I promise, it tastes really delicious. The dumplings are quick to prepare and so easy for little hands to manage. All served with a simple cranberry and apple puréed sauce. The first time I gave these to my kids I refused to answer their ‘what’s in them’ questions and, once devoured, not one of them could guess a Brussels Sprout has entered the building let alone that they’d eaten one.
What goes in…
1 Cup plain white flour
1/4 Cup boiling water
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
1 Cup cooked turkey finely chopped
2 Cloves garlic crushed
Thumb size of ginger grated
3 Uncooked Brussels Sprouts finely chopped
1/2 Teaspoon garam masala
1 Tablespoon water
1/2 Cup fresh cranberries
1 Sweet red apple peeled and finely chopped
Juice of 1/2 orange
How to make them…
Pastry
1. To make the pasty sieve the flour into a bowl then make a well in the middle. Add the boiling water and using a spatula stir until the flour starts to remember a dough. You may need a little extra water just add one tablespoon at a time.
2. Once dough is cool enough to touch, knead for about 5 minutes.
3. Cut your dough into 2 parts and roll into a long sausage shape. Then slice into little pieces about 2 inches thick. It is much easier to roll out the smaller pieces.
4. Using a rolling pin roll the dough out until it is thin and then cut into circular shapes. You should get about 20 altogether. Leave aside until later.
Filling
1. Heat the sesame oil in a frying pan and gently fry the chopped turkey, garlic and ginger for about 3-4 minutes.
2. Add the finely chopped Brussels sprouts and garam masala to the pan and toss for a minute or so.
3. To assemble the dumplings, firstly wet around the edges, then add a teaspoon of the mixture to the middle of the circle, fold in half then squeeze the pastry together to seal.
4. You can also pleat if you want to make them look super fancy. See the photo below.
5. To cook heat a drizzle of sesame oil in a frying pan and add all of the dumplings. Cook for about 3 minutes over a medium heat until the bottoms are turning golden brown.
6. The add a cup of boiling water to the pan and seal the lid to let the dumplings steam. It only takes about 3 minutes and the pastry will start to look translucent.
Cranberry dip
1. Heat the Cranberries, apple and orange juice in a saucepan and simmer for about 5 minutes. Add to a blender and blend until smooth.
Aileen Cox Blundell is a mother of three who runs her own graphic and web design company, Sweet! Aileen’s passion for healthy, nutritious and sugar-free foods led her to begin creating her own recipes for her family. Aileen is also an advocate of baby-led feeding, which allows babies and young children to take control of their eating by encouraging them to self-regulate and be more experimental with different types of food. Find her gorgeous recipes at www.babyledfeeding.com and you can find her on Facebook and on Instagram or Twitter. 
