I’ve come to the conclusion that all kids are picky eaters in some way. Little Pea may go to town on momos at the Tibetan restaurant and devour the candlenut curry we share from the Indonesian food truck, but put a potato in front of her? She won’t touch it. Pasta with tomato sauce. Acceptable! Pasta with pesto? Nope, nope, nope.
So, as parents, we do what we can. But as parents of a vegetarian child, it’s hard not to worry sometimes. Little Pea gets a lot of protein, but of particular concern to me lately is iron: Pea’s distaste for all things green means she’s missing out on one of the best sources of plant-based iron. (And no, she won’t do green smoothies. If it’s green, it’s not happening, no matter what it tastes like.)
One source of iron that’s always a winner for us? Beans and lentils. So I’ve been trying to up Little Pea’s intake of all things legume. Because straight up beans for every meal would get a bit boring, I started keeping these lentil meatballs on hand in the freezer for adding to pasta dinners or even just popping in Pea’s bento box lunches.