Preserving the Harvest: Purées

This season my shelves saw less cans, but my freezer was packed to the gills. I wanted to tuck away garden and market fresh foods for our son Arlo, ready for his first meals. I spent Sunday afternoons steaming and pureeing, spreading creamy zucchini and vibrant smooth strawberry purée into tiny ice cube trays. At the time of freezing, I thought very little of what creative potential there was in purées, only saw it in the traditional concept of baby food.

Months later, I began to dethaw and warm these tiny bits of summer, remembering the vibrant summer harvests or market days it came from. I love the sunny and sweet smell of golden beets, the velvety texture and rich color of purple sweet potatoes, and the savory and vivid green of kale. As he grew, trying more and more, I began to mix and invent, playing with flavor and texture combinations to entice his curious palette. In this I began to discover new flavor combinations for our own meals, breaking outside of the expected.

Simple Purée Recipe

To make a simple purée, I boil or steam the vegetable or fruit until very fork tender - you should be able to gently push it apart with just the poke of a fork. Most veg or fruit (carrots, apples, cut up beets, sweet potato, broccoli, green beans, etc.) it’s between 10-15 minutes steam or boil time.

Greens or tender veg like kale, zucchini and spinach take much less, around 4 to 6 minutes.

With any cooked purée, I am looking for it to be fork tender, but still vibrant in color. I found the best flavor is retained when the color is kept vibrant.

Strain and add veg to blender, adding a splash of the cooking water or fresh water then blend until smooth. I spread each purée into this silicone mold and freeze. Once frozen I add them to a freezer bag or container until ready to use.

I purée fresh strawberries, peaches, etc. - any tender juicy fruit - and freeze as a purée without cooking.

I de-thaw my purées either in the fridge over night, in a bottle warmer or on the de-thaw setting in a microwave.

I have found that some plain vegetable or fruit purées once dethawed release moisture, and need a bit of thickening to be easier for baby to eat. I use organic oatmeal baby cereal or organic quinoa and oatmeal cereal to thicken purées.

Purée Meals & Combinations

Some of our favorite combinations and quick recipes for Arlo’s meals:

Golden beet purée and plain yogurt - earthy and sweet, tangy and creamy a perfect combination.

Kale purée scrambled eggs - we call these kale eggs and they are a favorite. One cube of purée and one egg scrambled, plenty of butter when cooking and its perfect. I have made a double batch for myself some Saturday mornings.

Broccoli purée and rice - classic and nostalgic, a go to flavor combo. I add garlic powder and dried thyme for a depth of flavor, and a bit of butter as well.

Apple, fresh ginger and cinnamon - I had let the apple caramelize a bit when I cooked them and this combo tastes just like apple pie.

carrot purée and ginger - flavorful and bright combo.

kale purée and noodles - a quick green sauce, kale purée is delicious on plain noodles for little babe.

Beans on toast - taking the grown up version of beans and toast and making it for babe, spreading nutty summer green bean or stewed white bean purée over toast.

The purées also preserve flavor in ways other preserving methods don’t. The purées hold the freshness of vegetables better than anything else. He is enjoying the freshness of garden zucchini in a way we usually only enjoy in the summer months. What if I saw this beyond first foods and a way to pack summer flavors into winter dishes?

Pureed fruits are an easy add to smoothies, oatmeal, waffles or pancakes, while the pureed veg make great additions to soups, curries, pasta dough, pasta fillings and pasta sauces. Instead of seeing using purées as eating up leftover baby food, I see it as ways to invite summer and flavor into our dishes.

As I plan for another growing season, and my son is growing out of eating purées, I may still store a few in the freezer, for a fresh burst of summer in our winter meals.