I sometimes had to mash or cut something up but I was not going to cook a special meal for one member of the family.
That is how you get a picky eater.
Bingo. If the kid is going to be part of the family, they should eat what the rest of the family eats.
Teach kids early how to cook. If they help you cook, they’ll eat what’s in front of them. I’m not worried about them because they learned life skills to help them through.
Our daughter, at 3, sliced with a real knife, garden cucumbers for canning pickles. Never cut herself. In 4th grade she cooked Thanksgiving dinner from scratch all by herself. Pies, dressing, giblet gravy, the whole shebang. I was sick as a dog and in bed that year. She woke me once to ask how much sage to put in the dressing and I mumbled, “more than you think.” The 20+ lb turkey was ready and on the table at noon just like tradition.