Those first few weeks with a new baby are a blur, but nutrition need not be a blindspot. Whether you’re recovering from labor or supporting a partner who is, we’ve got dishes that can feed you and the whole family. Nutrient-packed to help heal and rebuild on a cellular level, they’re replete with easily digestible greens, energizing proteins, and healthy fats. Make them ahead and freeze before the baby comes, or let a Culinista chef make them as part of our postnatal meal prep, because everyone benefits from a bit of mothering.
High Protein
Turkey Meatballs with Roasted Carrot Sauce
Turkey and quinoa make these meatballs protein-rich, while dried apricots bring a welcome touch of sweetness. We serve them over a big spoonful of roasted carrot sauce, which is high in Vitamin A, an important vitamin to support the immune system.
Oats
Overnight Oats
Acclimate to your every-three-hours wake-up routine by adding a cozy, ready-to-eat bowl of oatmeal. Rolled oats get simmered in coconut milk for an ultra creamy porridge that becomes aromatic with warm spices of ginger, cardamom, allspice, and sumac. The addition of any fruit works here, but we opt for roasted pears gone jammy and sweet from cooking. The magic happens overnight, as the flavors meld together to sing in the morning. Nourishing, easily digestible, and spiced-just-right, these oats help replenish iron and promote milk production.
Ready to Eat
Green Chickpea Patties & Grains
Simple and energizing ingredients come together in more ways than one to yield this balanced and protein-rich dish. These quinoa-crusted patties take inspiration from falafel, but are composed of mashed chickpeas and dill. They rest upon a bed of bursting tomatoes, quinoa, and punchy arugula, before getting dressed with a green sauce that uses up the leftover arugula and dill. Employing each ingredient in more than one way is efficient and leaves no space for missed flavor or nourishment, delivering a vegan meal that will satiate and energize.
Freeze for Later
Hearty Vegetable Soup
Soup for the soul doesn’t necessarily need chicken. The broth takes its flavor from a Sustainable Simmer, employing onion skins, collard green trimmings, and toasted spices. You’ll find sweet potatoes swimming in the broth, swirled with wilted collard greens and savory bites of chewy wheatberries for a minestrone-like finish. Eat now or freeze for the future; it will soothe with every spoonful and sip, warming you through and through, whenever you decide to heat it up.
Bite Sized
Healthy Chicken Nuggets & Ranch
Whoever said chicken nuggets were just for kids didn’t know a Culinista. These quinoa-crusted chicken and sweet potato nuggets include no indecipherable ingredients and get oven-baked, not fried, until golden and crisp. A bright ranch dressing with a base of tart Greek yogurt threaded with dill and lemon zest delivers a nugget without the drive-through stomach ache.
Family Comfort Foods
Cauliflower Mac & Cheddar
Speaking of childhood favorites, our mac and cheese incorporates tenderly cooked cauliflower into a creamy, cheesy sauce for a hidden veggie that is so soft-spoken you might just miss it. We did that on purpose. This revamped classic will satisfy your most elementary of cravings with a crunchy breadcrumb topping, too.
Clean & Nourishing
Salmon Salmagundi
This cobb-style salad exemplifies the mantra “eat the rainbow.” Neat rows of forkable bites contain roasted sweet potatoes and golden beets, poached salmon, red kale, toasted pepitas, and a tarragon vinaigrette to make it hearty and filling. It’s a full meal for when you need all the elements in one bowl.
