Just keep at it with trying the new foods. If a five year old will eat stuff like red peppers, you are on the right track. I know that two of my three would not have even touched a pepper at that age.
Eldest, now 20, ate almost everything from a very young age. Middle kid did not want to transition from baby food (smooth texture) to regular food. We pushed the issue, and she did transition. She had some food pickiness, but that seemed normal for her age and she is no longer picky. She is now 18 and still has texture issues. She is not so opposed to one certain texture, but foods that mix two textures. At age 18, she can hide the texture issues and I doubt that anyone outside of the family knows about the texture issues. (She also had clothes issues, and still has some but can hide that too. Was resistant to change, especially at a young age.)
Youngest, age 11 (soon to turn 12), is a very picky eater. She will not eat vegetables and won't eat most fruits. Part of this was due to some medical issues as an infant/toddler, which included poor weight gain. The gastroenterologist said no veggie or fruit baby food, as these are low calorie. As a result, the kid now eats mainly meat, pasta, bread, etc. You would think she would be huge, but she is still 1st percentile BMI. Part is genetics but none of us really knows why she isn't heavier.
As for the general trying new things, I suspect part of this is that the suggestions are coming from the parents. While my eldest has recently admitted that mom and dad were right about some things that she refused to listen to a few years ago, it will likely take until the kid is past the teens before this happens. And she will only admit that we were right about a few things...there are many more that she still refuses to admit. The most "fights" have been over batting. If dad tries to work with the two older ones on batting (softball), he doesn't know anything. If the batting coach (who charges $50/hr) says the same thing, they accept that advice. Youngest plays a sport he knows nothing about, so no batting squabbles with her.
