I’ve tried every bit of bribery over the years to deal with my picky eater, and nothing has worked. Once I had him eat one green pea, and that resulted in a mess of stomach acid on my kitchen floor.

Pretty much everyone has given me advice on the matter, from “He’ll grow out of it” to “Be firm, and he’ll eventually eat.”

Well, I thought, he must be a special case because so far, none of those things have been true.

Then, a couple of weeks ago he actually said, “I’ll do anything for Jell-O,” and I knew I had him.

“Anything?” I asked. “Will you eat two bites of salad?”

As to vegetables, I can coerce him into eating a few carrots, or a piece of cucumber on occasion. Half the time I’ll find the partially chewed piece of cucumber in the corner of a room, decaying.

I saw the fear on his face. We both knew that this would be a big deal.

Gulp.

“OK.”

I forked a bite for him, he took a bite — and didn’t die. He did almost choke on the leaf, but it was a start. I didn’t even care that he ate 2 cups of electric-blue Jell-O as a reward.

Since then I’ve been pushing the envelope. He even ate some of my black bean soup. (I used butter mochi as a bribe.)

This soup is basic. Outside of toppings, I don’t think it improves much with a lot of extra fancy flavors. The beans themselves are the most important.

I start with soaking dry beans and then simmering them with onion, garlic and cilantro for several hours, or I cook them in much less time in an electric pressure cooker. I think from-scratch beans are much better than canned.

My daughter raved about the soup all through dinner while my son sulked between bites. He wouldn’t admit that the soup was edible, but he did eat it, and it stayed down.

I’m taking my small victories.

BLACK BEAN SOUP

By Mariko Jackson

• 4 cups cooked black beans
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 5 pieces bacon
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 canned chipotle pepper (optional)
• Salt, to taste

Optional toppings: shredded cheese, sour cream or plain yogurt, green onions, cilantro, avocado, hot sauce

In large pot, simmer beans in chicken stock to soften while working on the rest of the recipe.

In pan, fry bacon until crisp and remove to a paper towel.

Saute onion in bacon fat over medium heat until softened and turning golden, about 8 minutes.

Add cumin and garlic and stir together until fragrant.

After beans have been softening up for about 30 minutes, add onions (with all that bacon grease. Fat is wonderful with beans). Add 1 canned chipotle pepper for heat and smoky flavor, if you like.

Use an immersion blender to blend beans into a partial puree, or transfer soup to a blender to do this.

Chop bacon into small bits and add to pot. Add salt and give the soup a stir.

Serve hot with whatever toppings you desire. Accompany with tortillas or chips. Serves 6.

Approximate nutritional information, per serving: (not including salt to taste and chipoltle pepper): 270 calories, 10 g fat, 3.5 g saturated fat, 20 mg cholesterol, 650 mg sodium, 32 g carbohydrate, 11 g fiber, 2 g sugar, 14 g protein.

Mariko Jackson blogs about family and food at thelittlefoodie.com. Her column runs on the last Wednesday of the month. Nutritional analysis by Joannie Dobbs, Ph.D., C.N.S.