Black Bean and Squash Baby Burgers

I love coming up with recipes to help my little one try new foods and practice feeding herself, all new skills that she will have to master soon enough. The more she practices the better she will get at using her fine motor skills and learning to like a variety of foods. So far she seems to like animal proteins best, beef stew and chicken soup being her favourites. Seeing that Mama is a vegetarian and beans are a big part of my diet, I like to offer them to my kids regularly too so we can all eat the same meals. These little burgers are great for the whole family. Add in different herbs and spices based on your families preferences, I think cumin and mild smoked paprika would be delicious here and serve with a dip or sauce to make it more appealing for little eaters.

Black Bean and Squash Baby Burgers

Makes 15 mini burgers

Ingredients:

1 cup buttercup squash, mashed

1 cup quinoa, cooked

1 cup black beans (soaked and boiled at home or drained and rinsed if canned)

1/3 cup quick oats

1/4 cup Iron fortified infant cereal

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheet with parchment

• Combine squash, quinoa and beans in a large bowl, using a potato masher or fork, mash ingredients together until most of the beans are broken down

• Add oats and infant cereal to the bowl and stir to combine

• Use 2 tablespoons of the mixture and roll it into a ball, place on baking tray and press down slightly to form into a patty

• Bake for 20 minutes, flipping burger half way through baking to brown both sides