Fish and Omega-3s Recipe: Baked salmon with new potatoes and honey glazed carrots

Here is a quick affordable mid-week meal suitable for all ages, from infant to adult. I try to offer fish at least once a week to my picky 18month old. Sometimes he'll eat a few bites, sometimes he turn up his nose. Fish is a nutritous protein, containing healthy omega-3 fats that aid in brain development and heart health. Toddlers 1-3 need 0.7mg per day, and oily fish is the best source. Failing that, walnuts and flax seeds or oil are good options. There are several kid-friendly fortified foods available in grocery stores, namely orange juice, eggs and yogurt.

Certian varieties of fish may contain high levels of mercury. Some species are suffering from over-fishing and depleted stocks, while some farming practices can be environmentally damaging. Toronto Public Health recently published a great easy to read wallet sized guide to eating fish for women and children. Here is a link to the PDF: http://www.toronto.ca/health/fishandmercury/pdf/guide_eat_fish.pdf

In general, fresh or frozen wild salmon and canned light tuna are safe bets. Most experts advise waiting until a child is at least 1 year old before offering fish to reduce the likelyhood of an allergic reaction, but with no history of fish allergy in our family, I started offering it at about 8 months without any issues.

Here's the recipe:

Baked Salmon

2 fresh salmon steaks

2 Cloves of Garlic

1 ts of grated lemon zest

1 Tbl of Olive Oil

salt and pepper to taste

New Potatoes

1LB of New Potatoes

butter

Honey Glazed Carrots

1 Bag of peeled and washed Baby Carrots

1 TBL of fresh parsley

1 ts of honey