Joe Wicks’ family-friendly recipes

Joe Wicks’ family-friendly recipes

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Since having his two children, Indie and Marley, Joe has switched his focus to family health, with tips on nutrition and fitness to give children the best start in life. His latest book, Wean in 15, encourages parents to get adventurous in the kitchen, with recipes that can be enjoyed by the whole family and offer children new flavours, combinations and textures. We share three of our favourite dishes to cook up at home:

Banana Oaty Pancakes with Coconut and Blueberries

Joes says: “Pancakes are such a quick and easy win in the morning. They are perfect for babies to pull apart and try to feed themselves. Tip: The pancakes can also be chopped into fingers.”

Makes about 10 small 6-7cm pancakes.

You will need:

• 1 banana, peeled and sliced
• 2 eggs
• 40g porridge oats
• 30g desiccated coconut, plus extra to serve if you wish
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tbsp coconut oil or butter
• 40g blueberries, large ones cut into quarters, smaller ones cut into halves

To make:

• Blend together the banana, eggs, oats, desiccated coconut and baking powder until perfectly smooth.
• Melt the coconut oil or butter in a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. To cook the pancakes add tablespoonfuls of the batter to the pan and dot the top of each pancake with a few of the chopped blueberries. Cook for 1-2 minutes before flipping to cook the reverse side. Repeat until all the batter is used.
• Leave the pancakes to cool a little after cooking to prevent the blueberries from burning your baby’s mouth. Sprinkle with desiccated coconut to serve, if you like.
• The pancakes keep for up to 2 days covered in the fridge.

Very Green Curry

Joe says: “Life is so much easier when one meal can be shared by the whole family. This is a great one for batch cooking and enjoying together.”

Makes 2 adult and 1 baby portion.

 You will need:

• 3 kaffir lime leaves
• 2 large handfuls of spinach
• 25g bunch of coriander, including stems
• 4 spring onions, roughly chopped 4cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 x 400ml tin of coconut milk
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 2 chicken breasts, sliced into thin pieces
• 1 large courgette, cut into bite-sized chunks
• 6 baby sweetcorn, cut into small rounds
• 200g frozen peas
• cooked jasmine rice, to serve

To make:

• Strip out the stems from the lime leaves and discard. Add the leaves to a blender along with the spinach, coriander leaves and stems, spring onions, ginger, garlic and coconut milk. Blend until smooth.
• Melt the coconut oil in a large frying pan set over a medium heat. Add the chicken pieces and fry for 3 minutes until cooked through. Check by slicing into one of the larger pieces to make sure the meat is white all the way through, with no raw pink bits left. Add the courgette and corn and cook for a further 3 minutes.
• Pour the green sauce into the frying pan along with the peas and heat through for about 5 minutes or until the peas are defrosted and the vegetables have softened a little. Serve with jasmine rice.
• Keeps for 2 days covered in the fridge.

Fish Tacos with Tomato Salsa

Joe says: “The more variety you can offer your baby at a young age, the less likely they are to become fussy eaters. This is my lovely, lightly spiced take on a Mexican taco.”

Makes 1 adult and 1 child portion.

You will need:

• ½ tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp ground coriander
• ¼ tsp garlic granules
• 2 x 120g skinless, boneless cod fillets
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 12 cherry tomatoes
• ½ red onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 small avocado, de-stoned
• juice of½ lime
• 4 small soft corn or flour tortillas, warmed
• 1 small baby gem lettuce, shredded

To make:

• Mix together the spices and garlic granules and use to coat the fish.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and add the fish to the pan. Cook the fish for 3-4 minutes on each side.
• Heat the remaining oil in a small saucepan over a moderate heat and throw in the tomatoes. Cook for 4 minutes or until they begin to burst and start to break down. Stir in the red onion and garlic and cook for 2 minutes before removing from the heat.
• Mash the flesh from the avocado with the lime juice. Top the warmed tortillas with the tomato salsa, avocado and shredded lettuce. Flake over the fish and roll up to serve.

Wean in 15 by Joe Wicks (Bluebird) is out now.