If you’re anything like me, you are probably a chicken tender connoisseur. It’s difficult to stray from an easy meal because I happen to be a pretty picky eater. As I get older, I feel like it’s important to try new foods, especially because I am so interested in traveling all around the world post-grad. I’ve come up with a few ways that make it a little easier to start because all new cuisines seem so daunting in the beginning.
It’s important that you take the process one step at a time. Adding small new changes to your diet is the key to being able to sustain some of these new foods into your permanent diet. First, I would start with foods that are similar to the ones you already enjoy. For example, if you know you enjoy salads with romaine lettuce, it might be easy to try a spinach salad or a sandwich with arugula on it.
A few things that have been very helpful to me are being around friends and family that have similar tastes to mine and trying the things they enjoy. Because their tastes are already filtered similarly, you are probably more likely to actually like the foods and snacks they recommend rather than just completely randomizing your choices within your search. Another place I have found new foods is when I work in a restaurant. Many menus around certain areas specialized in specific types of cuisines that you may not be used to or introduced to. Having direct contact with these unfamiliar dishes could encourage you to be more experimental when looking to expand your tastes.
It’s important throughout this process to not be too hard on yourself or take it too seriously. There is something for everyone, and it is not guaranteed that you’ll immediately be able to change your entire food palette. When traveling to other places, especially if they are bigger cities, there are more likely to be many styles of food to try and a lot of variation between what’s being offered at each specific restaurant. Going online and seeing what’s being offered and picking something that sounds similar to your style with little variation could help your dedication to actually adding some new changes to your normal diet.
These are a few steps I’ve taken to try some new things with the summer coming up and my plans to travel. It’s been a great way to experiment and really get out of my comfort zone when it comes to what I eat. I have found myself starting to buy more frozen meals that I wouldn’t normally be drawn to. This is helpful because I am not buying a full version of whatever new food I am trying, but I am starting to see if there is something that I could potentially enjoy on a regular basis. It is definitely worth giving it a shot if you have thought about wanting to explore new cuisines that you could whip up in the kitchen yourself.