Beginning Over, 7. A Question of Food.

Day 5.

My throat is now almost completely clear. My nose is dry, but that's because of the lack of humidity in the air. My voice is still a touch gravelly, but it's very recognizably mine. I declare this Covid finished, though I won't waste a test until Friday, when my seven days are up.

I am running out of ideas on what to make to eat. My husband has been eating at his mother's, or making for himself next door, so I get to eat things he normally doesn't like. Except, I stocked the fridge and pantry thinking he would be quarantined with me. So, I don't have all the exotic ingredients I would otherwise need. My husband did give me two avocadoes last week, passed to him by someone who has an avocado tree. They went to one of my healthier meals at the beginning of my quarantine, homemade guacamole with bread. I also did vegetable soup on my worst day, salads, chick peas in sauce with chourizo and vegetables, and Oriental-style stir fries with plenty of vegetables. Now, I have no idea what to make for lunch today. I have some salmon in the freezer, but no asparagus. Maybe a small potato tortilla? Or do I want to go to the trouble? 

Not that I like vegetables that much. They are an acquired taste for me. When I was growing up, and my mother made empanada, I would open my slice of the meat pie, and take out all the onions. I did like sweet corn, and tolerated sweet peppers, but that was it. When I became an adolescent my taste buds started to become curious. That was when I began to like onions, even raw. Other vegetables had to wait, though. I remember being pregnant and trying green asparagus. I cooked some, and gave it to my mother to finish. Now, I will eat it without any trouble. 

I also used to hate carrots, and would only swallow them in stews without chewing them. Ever since my hypertension was diagnosed, I have been eating them, though only cooked or fried, not raw. They're not so bad. Tomatoes I will eat raw in a sandwich and, sometimes, in a salad, but not through preference. I don't like bitter greens in my salads, though, so I still prefer a salad with lettuces, only. I started eating broccoli a long time ago, but only in cream of broccoli soup. Now, I use it in stir fries, too. Mushrooms have long been eaten in many ways, all cooked. Zucchini isn't so bad, and leeks remind me of onions. Celery is tolerated in chicken salads and the like, only if diced very well, otherwise, cooked in stews. 

I have yet to try yams, but on my banished list are cucumbers. I only eat them in sushi, and not with pleasure. I have tried to eat them in other ways, and no, I don't want them. To me, they taste like watermelon without the good sweetness. They are bland, filled with water, and an unlucky vegetable to have happened. The only way I will eat a cucumber is pickled. Pickles are one of my acquired tastes, as well as olives. But, with hypertension, I can only put a pickle on a sandwich from time to time, and an olive from decade to decade.

I suppose I'm lucky to have a lot of food to choose from, let alone like. That still doesn't mean it's easy to choose. I'll go check recipes.

Life continues.