Creamy Chicken, Bean and Leek Traybake

I specialise in child nutrition and I nutritionally support children for the first 1000 days of their life. Starting from pregnancy to their 2nd birthday. I am also passionate about Mum’s health and wellbeing during pregnancy and postnatal recovery.

During pregnancy, mums-to-be are often juggling a busy job, other children or might decide to move houses or renovate before the baby arrives.

All these factors can put a lot of pressure on you and your body and your mental wellbeing.

These pressures can also affect the foods you eat during pregnancy often excluding nutrients dense foods.

It puts pressure on mum-to-be, when health experts inform you that prenatal nutrition plays an important role in the future health of your growing baby, helping them fight illnesses, and allergies, and support brain development and mental health.

The good news is as long as you avoid some risky foods, enjoy a generally healthy diet and lifestyle and focus on a few key nutrients that are key to a baby’s development, especially their brain development. You and your baby will be absolutely fine.

The key nutrients to prioritise are:

🥦Choline - eggs, meat, poultry, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, nuts, legumes

🍳Vitamin D - Oily fish, egg, meat, mushrooms

🥜Iron - Shelfish, broccoli, red meat, nuts, beans, dried fruit, tofu

🍤Omega-3 - Fish, seafood, seaweed and algae

This creamy chicken, mushroom bean and leek, traybake is packed with most of these key nutrients.

A tray bake is quick and easy, simple to make if pregnant and juggling work or if you have just had a baby. You can batch cook and freeze. Ready for when baby arrives.

Ingredients

2 tbsp Olive oil

8 Chicken thighs

2 Leeks, sliced into rounds

250g Mushrooms, halved

2 large garlic cloves, crushed

2 x 400g cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

500ml Hot chicken stock

1½-2 tbsp Wholegrain mustard

100g Crème fraîche

1 large Lemon,

100g Kale

crusty bread, to serve

Method

Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.

Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan.

Fry the leeks and mushrooms in the pan for 5 mins or until just softened. Add the garlic and fry for 1 min more.

Stir in the beans, mustard, lemon and pour the stock over the beans and season to taste.

Spoon into the tray around the chicken. Roast for 20 mins, then remove from the oven and stir the crème fraîche through the beans.

Roast for 10-15 mins more, or until the chicken is cooked through. 

To freeze, leave to cool completely and transfer to large freezer-proof bags.

Scatter the lemon zest over the chicken and serve with crusty bread to mop up the juices.