An Ever-Expanding Palette

A couple of nights ago we had roasted acorn squash, brown rice, and mofu tofu with mole sauce for dinner, and Holden ate almost everything. This is not unusual for our 2 yr-old, who prefers salsa to ketchup and spicy chili to mashed potatoes. We're constantly amazed and impressed at the kinds of things that Holden will willfully gobble up with glee. This was not always the case; he was an extremely picky eater in the early stages of solid food, making us, his foodie parents, worry they were doomed. But we've been consistent about serving him a range of seasonal foods and spices, of being adventurous ourselves, and of living by the bribing adage of "sure you can have some more of X, as long as you try Y first."

We don't believe in 'sneaking' in healthy foods into bland meals, except on a few choice occasions (if we have to make a quick mac-n-cheese meal because we're in a hurry, we always add in spinach, broccoli, or another leafy vegetable). And we definitely don't believe in becoming short-order cooks. Rather, we've tried to foster the concept that food is important, fun, and something to enjoy discovering. We always show him new foods that we get in our CSA, talk about the vegetables in our garden, and cook and bake with him as much as we can. Everytime we sit down for dinner, we tell him what new foods are on his plate. It took us a long time to get him to try some things that are now among his favorites--like avocado, for instance--but we now see our consistency has paid off.

Here's a list of some of his more adventurous favorites--and some of things he's tried and gone back for seconds:

• Tofu
• Guacamole
• Hummus
• Chili and curried lentil soup
• Cucumbers
• Radishes (until he ate them too fast and the heat caught up with him_
• Raw spinach
• Minestrone
• Raw tomatoes (one of his favorite vegetables)
• Dried Apricots
• Black beans
• High-end cheeses (he doesn't actually like American cheese, but would prefer the sharper stuff)
• Salsa