Frozen broccoli with cheese

For years I took pride in making tasty stir-fried vegetables and many different home-made Chinese dishes. I never understood the idea of frozen vegetables, and didn't have the slightest interest to try them.

Back in July when I prepared to go to South Carolina for a week-long silence retreat, I went to the grocery store to buy some food for Jack so he didn't have to spend too much time cooking yet could still eat something healthy. Granted he is a good cook for Holiday meals, during the year, he spends most of his time by the computer, reading or watching movies.

I picked up some frozen Brussels Sprouts, frozen spicy chicken wings and frozen broccoli with cheese thinking perhaps they were more nutritious than canned soup. And Jack is probably better acquainted with them than me, since he is an American boy growing up in Michigan.

The frozen foods were left in the freezer for the next few months untouched.

One night in October, I decided to eat the frozen broccoli. I opened the bag, put the content in the frying pan, and cooked it in medium heat for 20 minutes while stirring it patiently, just as it was mentioned in the instruction. I even spiced it up with salt and pepper. The efforts to cook this frozen broccoli was no less than cooking fresh vegetables.

At dinner, Jack took a bite of the broccoli, looked at me quizzically, and said: "This doesn't taste good." He had a couple of bites, then went to the kitchen to find something else more edible. I couldn't help but laughed. This is probably the only time when I wasn't saddened when someone criticized my "cooking".