Edamame

One of the daily challenges in mum-dom is encouraging my three year old to like eating vegetables. Perhaps I have become immune or have learnt to feign ignorance to the “choking”, “gagging” and “tears” that inevitably seem to arise when she starts to eat them.

Indeed, the veritable v-word has been difficult to pronounce and even harder to swallow. I recall trying to encourage her when she was a doe-eyed two and looking at the vegetables mixed in the plate before her, apprehensively and with suspicion. In my feeble attempts to vigorously nod my head every time she attempted to take a bite and cheer her on…”yes, yes, yes!”, I would exclaim, we now call them “yes-tables”–yes to vegetables. It’s hilarious but the “word” has stuck and so have my efforts to glorify them.

It was with great pleasure that I got a chance to introduce her today to edamame for mid-afternoon snack. Edamames–preparation of immature soybeans in the pod, -are found in the cuisine of China, Japan, Korea. The pods are boiled or steamed and served with salt. They are also fuss-free and nutrient packed, a really easy condiment of greens at the dinner table. They are now on offer at NTUC Finest. You’re welcome.

As expected, her first instinct was to frown but fortunately her older sister caught on and popped a few pods in the her mouth. “Edamame” sounds like “Eat-a-mummy”, no?”her sister quipped. “You wanna eat-a-mummy?” The little one looked at her with brightly lit eyes, realised it might be a queer but adventurous proposition, and dived right in. ‪#‎eatingtherainbow‬‪#‎fussfreevegetables‬ ‪#‎notagoodmothersdayidea‬