The Best Baby Food: 125 Healthy & Delicious Recipes for Babies & Toddlers

Wagman (750 Best Appetizers), a chef, and Hillhouse, a nutritionist, team up to create recipes for gourmet baby food. More than a cookbook, this is a nutritional and culinary guide to help parents make informed food choices. The authors make a compelling case that commercial baby food is typically higher in calories, lower in nutrients, and is more costly than homemade varieties, plus it contains unnecessary and unhealthy additives. They advise avoiding pesticides, herbicides, GMOs, hormones, and several chemical and inorganic compounds that they say can wreak havoc on a growing child. The recipes span three developmental stages: six to nine months, nine to 12 months, and one year and older. To start, Wagman cooks up simple fare with one or two ingredients, such as roasted beet puree and whole grain oat cereal with grapes. The menu gets more complex for older children, with recipes such as mango lassi, turkey meatloaf, and soft polenta with cheddar cheese and broccoli. The authors provide a blueprint for introducing kids to a wide variety of food textures, colors, and tastes to set them on the path to becoming healthy and, crucially, non-picky eaters for the rest of their lives. (Mar.)