A stir-fry, for crying out loud. In recipe-developer-land, did no one let slip that a stir-fry is a combination food?

Dear nutritionist, you lied to me.

You said if I’d introduce a new food enough times, my children would learn to love it. Or at least tolerate it. Or at least not ask to go sit in a different room on the other side of the house when I serve it.

But it was a bald-faced lie.

Not only have my kids not made their peace with cabbage or peas, they're methodically and slowly eliminating other formerly safe foods from their diets.

First, they came for sweet potatoes, and I didn’t speak out, because I’m not a sweet potato. Then fish sticks were proscribed. Fish sticks! What will be with my cheat suppers? Then chicken on the bone became a food non grata. What will be next to fall?

Dear recipe columnist, you lied to me too. Is there no one I can trust?

You offered a simple weeknight-dinner recipe set that would, and I say this with ironic air quotes, “please the pickiest palate.” Jackpot, I thought!

But no. My hopes were dashed yet again, because the first recipe was a stir-fry. A stir-fry, for crying out loud. In recipe-developer-land, did no one let slip that a stir-fry is a combination food?