Welcome back to Picky Eaters’ Club, where Smitten Kitchen’s Deb Perelman reveals what she actually cooks for her two kids.
My husband and I have a joke about how much he likes my cooking. “This is delicious!” he’ll say as he shakes a bottle of Sriracha all over the soup/tacos/omelet/spaghetti I’ve made. I’ve learned not to take it personally, and in fact I’ve joined him, finding that my own spice tolerance has slowly crept up from virtually nonexistent to “Who finished the chili crisp again?!”
Then there are the other two people in our family: the Picky Contingent. The older one, never wanting to miss out on the fun, asks for a microscopic dot of hot sauce on his plate at dinner and then immediately washes it down with half a glass of water. Still, this is progress. The four-year-old, also known as the one who recently requested “pasta with nothing on it and nothing near it,” would prefer not even a speck of black pepper in her food. This, of course, poses a challenge to the way I like my food: seasoned to the point where you might actually taste it, no matter how radical this sounds.
What’s a cook who refuses to make multiple versions of the same meal to do? The first time I make something, like this asparagus stir-fry that’s loosely inspired by my love for Sichuan dry-fried green beans, I go easy on the heat. Mostly I’m just trying to get everyone to the table. Then, once I’ve (hopefully) convinced everyone that they like this dish—blistered yet snappy asparagus and crispy pork in a robust sauce, how could they not?—I might sneak in an extra spoonful of chili crisp next time, hoping the slight shift won’t be too detectable. We may never get to a place where my husband doesn’t need to “adjust” his plate with hot sauce, but it’s nice to be heading in the right direction.
Get the recipe:
Other Articles
Baby Pasta Shells with Asparagus and Marinara Sauce
My Anxiety Symptoms Were Ruining My Life
