Expanding the Food Horizon

Today I realized how far my daughter has come in her appreciation of food and her ability to put it to rather gourmet uses.  

This was my child who liked very little that was green when she was growing up.  I can’t even remember what she ate, but I think it was dominated by chicken nuggets and Kraft mac & cheese.  There was no getting her to even try things like mushrooms or eggplant or so many other good foods.

But that has all changed.  About the time she went away to college her menu expanded a bit.  Living in San Francisco and shopping at farmers’ markets helped a lot.  

Now there are very few foods she really doesn’t eat.  They still include asparagus and peppers, but most everything else is fair game these days.

She made a vegetarian dinner tonight that was simply delicious.  We had homemade creamy polenta topped with mixed beans (cooked from scratch) and tomatoes, oven roasted kale, and banana bread for dessert.  It was an inexpensive meal, as many of hers are, which will fit right into her upcoming student lifestyle as she heads off to Columbia to become a nurse practitioner.  

She even cleaned up as she cooked, leaving very little for me to do besides show up to eat.  

It’s always so nice to see finicky eaters learn to love and appreciate a variety of good food!  And it really is nice to have a resident cook.  Too bad she’s leaving soon.