The day I dreaded finally arrived. My 14-year-old daughter made the announcement. She would no longer eat beef or pork, calling herself a "pescachicketarian." She will eat fish or chicken, she said, but mostly she eats Kashi bars and Amy's frozen meals.

Why? "I don't know, I just want to try," Miranda said. Only one of her friends is a vegetarian, so it's not peer pressure. She says it's not that meat grosses her out, or even an animal rights issue. She just want to try — an exercise in will. (Or in irritating Mom?)

A couple of weeks later, chicken was off the list, but turkey's hanging on. Don't ask about the logic of that.

And bacon: "I technically don't eat pork but I'm going to consider bacon a whole 'nother animal." It's a good thing, too, because there's nothing like a dollop of bacon fat from the jar in the fridge to give sauteed onions that je ne sais quoi.

Having a non-meat eater in the house presents a challenge to our protein-at- the-center-of-the-plate habits. When I don't feel like cooking, my husband happily grills a steak. My son could (and does) live on chicken parts (at least he likes Naked Nuggets, the grilled, unbreaded ones sold at Costco).

But when I set out to cook dinner, there's usually some kind of flesh involved. So far, I've managed to please both camps but have dirtied more pans. Other than more cleanup, I really don't mind adapting what I cook.

Spaghetti now comes with and without meatballs in the red sauce. When I make a stir-fry, I keep the meat separate, and it becomes a kind of make- your-own rice bowl. Sauteed chicken chunks can be tossed separately with the pasta and cream sauce.

It's a little more work for me, but I'm pleased to see Miranda eating fish and a wider variety of vegetables than she used to. She has even embraced spinach. One of our favorite combos is spinach and feta cheese, so I created a quiche to please everyone, including the bacon-eating pescatarian.

In his excellent book "The Flexitarian Table," Peter Berley says he discovered that he could use vegetable and meat proteins interchangeably in many dishes, pleasing one strict vegetarian and the other meat-loving daughter. I like his inclusive approach. As a personal chef, caterer and cookbook author, Berley has had 30 years to tweak his recipes — they're flavorful, varied and not too complicated.

No matter what my kids declare they are eating or not eating, I'm going to apply the philosophy Burley sets out in his book's introduction: "It's about relationships and respecting the different needs of everyone who comes to the table and making them feel welcomed and richly provided for, however they choose to eat."

Kristen Browning-Blas: 303-954-1440 or