Day Thirty-Nine: It's Not Easy Being Green

I'm a little bit baffled right now. In a good way, I think. Mainly, I'm wondering: Why the *%$@ did I think I didn't like lima beans?

As a kid, I know my mom served them, but I can't remember how they were prepared. Boiled? Sauteed? Mixed with anything? My main memory is that they were incredibly bitter, terrible, unswallowable things. Part of me wonders if it's because they were green, and to an eight-year-old, all things green are intimidating (except, perhaps, Kermit the Frog). I know my mom had to blitz veggies in the blender to sneak them into our meatloaf (I'm going to say my brother was more a veggie hater than I was but I'm probably wrong... I do know at some point when he was very small, he pretended to be a brontosaurus and ate broccoli because they looked like trees).

But still, after having had them for lunch today, how oh how did I not like lima beans? Right now, my apartment smells gorgeous. I sauteed a little garlic and black pepper in olive oil, added a can of limas, sauteed awhile longer, salt, cherry tomatoes, basil, and white vinegar. So so so so good. I've had to stop myself from eating the entire batch to avoid stomachache. Good good good good good. The beans are so creamy and I'm not tasting any of the bitterness my childhood palate so detested. They are beans. Creamy, buttery beans. What changed between then and now?

Of course, part of me says you could saute rocks in olive oil with garlic, add tomato, basil, and vinegar, and it would be the best meal of your life. But mainly, I think it's me. Growing up and all that. Because I also remember hating navy bean soup, and about a year ago I made it for myself, out of curiosity, and I loved the heck out of it. So my palate just changed. So anything I haven't had since I was a kid is probably going to taste different to me now, for better or for worse.