By Elizabeth Wheeler

When I first began cooking for my 12-year-old stepson Peter, he was a deeply conservative, fearful, and argumentative companion at the dinner table. In addition to reminding me that I was not his mother, Peter would trumpet “I won’t ever eat that,” when served anything green, red, or yellow that was not mint chocolate chip ice cream, expensive steak, a carrot, baked potato, or Pepperidge Farm Goldfish. My everyday French and Italian peasant supper dishes and fresh vegetables were utterly foreign, disgusting and appalling. Greens? Zucchini? Peppers? Eggplant? No, no, no, and never.

Peter’s touchstone for food normalcy, rooted in an Anglo-New England heritage and his mother’s cooking, was not uncommon. Yet to me it was almost inconceivable. Peter’s description of his mother’s cooking repertoire revealed an aggressive disinterest: she hurled chicken into the oven wet, unseasoned, and with the parts bag still inside, and served it with catsup and frozen vegetables subjected to long, brutal boiling. In matters of motherhood and home cooking, I bit my tongue—hard—and continued to invite Peter to the table. Garlic, virgin olive oil, and good Italian bread proved to be the gateway to his palate, and eventually led to his astonishing request three years later: “Can you make me some of those greens you make?”

Peter’s burgeoning machismo flowered into a fascination with hot sauces with names like Death Wish and Ass-Kicker, which for several months he slathered gleefully on everything he ate. One day, while cultivating his new resentful teen posture for me at a Japanese-Korean restaurant, he sniffed out the kimchee, a super-hot Korean cabbage and hot-pepper pickle, and the wasabi, the eye-wateringly pungent Japanese horseradish that accompanies sushi. He sat up and guzzled this inferno while eyeing me and the raw fish I ate with incredulous distain. His eyes closed against the uni (sea urchin roe) going into my mouth. But the gross-out factor was irresistible. And he sort of trusted me by then.

“I want to try that uni,” he proclaimed, now man enough with his bellyful of kimchee. At $8 a pop, I wasn’t too keen on the idea, but what the hell? I held his gaze when the uni arrived, a grayish-gold speckled orb glistening in a circle of black nori. His lips quivered a tiny bit as he lifted it masterfully with his chopsticks. He opened wide and in it went, all slippery slithery-rich musky brininess. His eyes glazed . . . queasily? I hovered at the edge of this new watershed, curious and expecting the worst. “Mmm,” he murmured defiantly, “Goob.” I smiled at him, just a little, not too triumphantly. “Want some more?”

Roasted Summer Vegetables

This recipe is a variation on one from The Yachting Cookbook, which I co-authored in 1990. The dish is really more of an idea than a precise formula, and it is an outstanding and simple way to feature late summer vegetables. It is delicious with grilled lamb, and can be served hot or at room temperature. A sprinkle of red wine vinegar is a nice embellishment. Many kids like it.

 2 – 3 medium zucchini

3 – 4 medium potatoes (about 1 pound) scrubbed

2 small eggplants

1 large red or green sweet pepper, cored and seeded

1 – 2 fresh tomatoes

1 large sweet onion, peeled

2 – 3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped fine

1 teaspoon each dried oregano and marjoram

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

3 – 4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 – 6 tablespoons olive oil

Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

Cut all the vegetables into 1/8-inch-thick slices. Set the tomatoes aside. Put the remaining vegetables, garlic, herbs and salt and pepper in a baking pan large enough to hold them in one overlapping layer (about 10 by 14 inches). Add enough oil to coat the vegetables generously, and toss well.

Arrange the vegetables alternately in overlapping rows. Tuck in the tomato slices in even distribution, and press the vegetables down gently with your hands.

Roast the vegetables for about 45 minutes, or until they are tender and browned around the edges.

September is Food Safety Month, and many food safety organizations are eager to remind the public of some basic strategies to avoid food-borne illness. For the standard government consumer messages, visit www.fightbac.org.

For a truly innovative approach visit Barf Blog at http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/. This blog employs pop culture and story-telling to educate the public about food safety, especially “all those teenagers who are working in foodservice and are the last people to touch your lunch.” It is run by Dr. Doug Powell and his food safety friends who believe that “traditional food safety education is a complete waste of time and money.”