For many years she worked with Earth's Best Organic Baby Food, integrating nutrition and product development. She has written numerous articles on children's health and nutrition for parenting publications. Dear Angela, You should introduce new legumes to your daughter slowly, to allow her digestive system to adapt. Young children have a more difficult time handling the fiber load of legumes than do adults. Also, legumes are very low in fat compared to meat so to get adequate calories, your daughter would have to eat more than her system could comfortably handle.
Legumes are great baby food in limited quantity.
I suggest that you combine some higher fat foods with them such as cheese, nut butters, and vegetable oils. Remember, legumes need to be combined with a complimentary food in order to maximize the protein that they provide your daughter. If you daughter is eating plenty of grain foods during the day, than she is getting the necessary complimentary foods. As you may already know, beans and grains together make a protein complete with the necessary amino acids. As your daughter gets older, than you can begin to make beans a larger part of her diet.