Veggies!!! What is your take?

lisamarie2181
lisamarie2181 Posts: 560 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hey everyone!

How do you feel about veggies? Love them? Hate them? Somewhere inbetween? Eat them because you know they are healthy but don't really enjoy them? lol

I have heard that your palate changes every 7 years, so I gave some veggies a try again that i used to hate in the past, and now I LOVE them! I used to hate onions, peppers, cilantro, brussel sprouts - now they are a norm in my kitchen. I have learned to love cooking and experimenting with foods, and I feel that my variety has increase alot since I gave some veggies a retry. And it has actually opened me up to trying some new ones that have intimidated me in the past (mostly because I didn't know what to do with them!)

For all who are not such big fans, why do you think that is? maybe your parents weren't the best at cooking and didn't make them well? just never experimented much with different kinds? don't know how to cook them?

And for the veggies eaters, has there been any new veggies you have added to your diet since starting your healthy lifestyle that you didn't used to eat before?

And corn and potatoes don't count, most seem to love those lol

Would love to hear your opinions!! :)
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Replies

  • cutesmile79
    cutesmile79 Posts: 17
    I think I like most veggies, but don't get a chance to really consume them (other than snacks) much because my husband only likes peas, lima beans & broccoli. I kinda have gotten him to like eggplant though.
  • bodyzen
    bodyzen Posts: 122 Member
    I love veggies! I'm a fruit-lover at heart of course, but I always make sure I get my daily greens. I've recently fallen in love with spiralized zucchini spaghetti and I am never going back to the processed stuff! ;) My favs are probably: cucumber (love that fresh crunch), peas, and sweet peppers of all kinds! Now I'm hungry again... haha!
  • slkehl
    slkehl Posts: 3,801 Member
    I like zucchini, cucumbers, bell peppers, mushrooms, and tomatoes. I know I don't get enough. I've been working on adding them to dishes, like pasta, tuna, ect. Mixing them in makes them more palatable.
  • ndblades
    ndblades Posts: 233 Member
    INtresting about the "palate change" -- I would agree,,,, I used to hate all veggies, except corn, potatos and carrots,,, now those are the 3 veggies I rarely eat! I love most of them now. Peas and brussel sprouts I still don't care for however.
  • dakotababy
    dakotababy Posts: 2,407 Member
    I LOVE veggies - i didn't know it probably 4 months ago. But someone told me "why eat something you don't even enjoy?" and i recalled this while coming up with recipes/meal plans. There are tons of different veggies - keep trying different ones until you find the ones you like and enjoy.
  • jozzler
    jozzler Posts: 37
    I love all veggies apart from celery. I won't eat it raw, but will eat it cooked in a dish if i have to. Sprouts are my fave, i've been known to eat a massive plate of them on their own just with gravy on :laugh: Carrots are a bit boring i think. I love butternut squash too. I roast it and make it into chips instead of using potatoes with plenty of salt and vinegar on. I love fried onions. mushy peas - yum. Basically, i'll just eat anything, i'm a major foodie. :laugh:
  • BlackKat75
    BlackKat75 Posts: 210 Member
    I love pretty much all veggies, but right now I'm on a big spinach kick. Such a wonderful vegetable and super easy to add to lots of different recipes after quickly wilting. We spent a lot of the summer eating roasted peppers and onions made on the grill, which were delicious. I'm looking forward to cooler days and making some roast parsnips, which are just divine!! My husband has a less adventurous palate than I do, but since I've been doing most of the cooking lately, he's been pretty brave at trying things I know he wouldn't ordinarily eat!
  • tommygirl15
    tommygirl15 Posts: 1,012 Member
    I love vegetables!! That's interesting information about the 7-year palate thing.

    I used to really dislike squash, but now I LOVE squash. Brussel sprouts are also something I never liked before - maybe I should give them another go :)
  • lisamarie2181
    lisamarie2181 Posts: 560 Member
    I like zucchini, cucumbers, bell peppers, mushrooms, and tomatoes. I know I don't get enough. I've been working on adding them to dishes, like pasta, tuna, ect. Mixing them in makes them more palatable.

    This is what I do all the time!! Every time I make Chili, soup, or anything I throw in as many veggies as I can! Chili and soup is nice because no matter what I throw in there it tastes like chili or soup! lol Even when I make some new recipes I try and throw more veggies in.
    I LOVE veggies - i didn't know it probably 4 months ago. But someone told me "why eat something you don't even enjoy?" and i recalled this while coming up with recipes/meal plans. There are tons of different veggies - keep trying different ones until you find the ones you like and enjoy.

    I also agree with this, there are SOOOO many veggies out there, if you don't like Brussel Sprouts, don't eat them!! I feel the more veggies you eat the more you may want to try. I used to be very intimidated by eggplant because I had no idea what to do with it, so I started looking up recipes and I found some good ones and now I love eggplant!

    Great responses so far, so nice to see some do enjoy their veggies!

    I am single and it is so funny I find alot of men that I have dated HATE veggies! So hard to cook for them lol I always thought it was mostly men because of this, but I have noticed more women are in the same boat, so always wondered why that was. I know some that I have talked to said when they tried them they were horrible and never touched them again. I feel like that was because of the bad cook making them lol
  • lisamarie2181
    lisamarie2181 Posts: 560 Member
    I love all veggies apart from celery. I won't eat it raw, but will eat it cooked in a dish if i have to. Sprouts are my fave, i've been known to eat a massive plate of them on their own just with gravy on :laugh: Carrots are a bit boring i think. I love butternut squash too. I roast it and make it into chips instead of using potatoes with plenty of salt and vinegar on. I love fried onions. mushy peas - yum. Basically, i'll just eat anything, i'm a major foodie. :laugh:

    Never heard of doing that with butternut squash, thanks for the idea!! Gonna have to try that one soon! I just discovered spaghetti squash a few weeks ago and fell in love! lol

    if you love fried onions, try sweet onions on the grill, taste like onion rings without the breading! YUMMM!!!
  • lisamarie2181
    lisamarie2181 Posts: 560 Member
    I love vegetables!! That's interesting information about the 7-year palate thing.

    I used to really dislike squash, but now I LOVE squash. Brussel sprouts are also something I never liked before - maybe I should give them another go :)

    Yeah I don't know how scientifically (is that a word? lol) true it is, but someone said it to me and I was like hmmm, maybe I should retry things, and I am sooo glad I did! I LOVE my veggies now!

    Completely agree with the squash by the way, I love it too!
  • PandaPants0612
    PandaPants0612 Posts: 37 Member
    LOVE! In fact, more than half of my daily intake is usually comprised of fruits and veggies.

    If I didn't love chicken & turkey so much (or could stomach the taste of "fake" meats), I would be a vegetarian, but I need to keep that protein up :)
  • gracieabem
    gracieabem Posts: 211
    I would definitely recommended people retry veggies that they currently dislike. Some that I have really ended up loving -

    - pumpkin (a bowl of roasted pumpkin with the skin on would be my last meal given a choice, I love them that much now)
    - mushrooms (now I love their meaty texture)
    - sweet potato (used to be too sweet???)
    - asparagus (yeah, didn't realise that the fresh stuff was so delicious!)

    The only veggie that I'm not fussed on is corn, but even then I'll eat it if it's there. I suggest trying or retrying a veggie every week or fortnight. You may very well surprise yourself. And try it in a different way. How many of us had awful, over cooked, boiled brussels sprouts growing up? They are the most delicious veggie ever if done well. So it may also just be the cooking method.

    I recently discovered artichokes because I had never bothered to try them. Yum. What a waste of 27 years lol.

    Oh and to answer the original question - I love veggies!
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    I love vegetables. The only 3 I can think of that I don't care for are: okra, eggplant, and sweet potatoes/yams. I will eat them, but I don't seek them out on purpose. Everything else is golden.

    ETA: The poster beneath me reminded me of parsnips. Don't like those much...
  • Cimolestes
    Cimolestes Posts: 33 Member
    Love them all including all the brassica family. Having an allotment means we can experiment with growing unusual and old varieties to see if we like them too. Our own asparagus bed has been really good too. There's only two I really wouldn't choose and they are parsnip and marrow.
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    ...Sprouts are my fave, i've been known to eat a massive plate of them on their own just with gravy on...

    :huh:
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
    I love vegetables, and always have done. My mum always made us lots of veggies and home-made meals, so I grew up eating well.

    Even my kids love veggies - my 3 year old son loves broccoli, and my 1 year old daughter will eat anything!

    This evening I cut up a courgette (zucchini) and fried it in a bit of oil, some chilli powder and lemon juice. You're supposed to add garlic too, but I was too lazy to chop some up! That's from the Jamie Oliver cook book. He has some lovely veg recipes in there. Another one I do sometimes is potatoes, carrots, peas and broccoli all together and mashed with mint sauce.

    When it gets colder I like to make soup - loads of veggies and some lentils.

    If I make shepherd's pie I use sweet potato mash on top instead of normal potatoes.
  • bushidowoman
    bushidowoman Posts: 1,599 Member
    I used to never eat raw veggies, now I eat as many of them raw as I can. I've found that it takes some planning to get in the recommended fresh fruits and veggies, but if I plan it and do it, I have less room for junk. Which means I take in less calories. It's kind of like water...keep it available and go to that first!
    I've also discovered that I feel better--less sluggish more energy. And I'm sick less often.
  • Brunner26_2
    Brunner26_2 Posts: 1,152
    Love'em. I feel bad for people who want lose weight but say they hate vegetables.
  • TheLittleVoice91
    TheLittleVoice91 Posts: 80
    cant get enough of those bad boys ;) mr broccoli is my fave
  • emilye72
    emilye72 Posts: 41 Member
    I love most of them. I can't really say I hate a specific one, except green beans maybe, and whichever ones I have never tried before. I use to be a vegetarian so I am use to eating tons of veggies. There's nothing better than being able to fill up on a bunch of low cal veggies, and feel satisfied after.
  • DMW914
    DMW914 Posts: 368 Member
    I'm in between when it comes to vegetables. I like most of them but some I have to eat cooked in with other foods, like peas for instance, I can't stand them alone but in casserole they're tolerable & radishes too much bite :sick: but with a good salad...not so bad...:ohwell:
  • lisamarie2181
    lisamarie2181 Posts: 560 Member

    This evening I cut up a courgette (zucchini) and fried it in a bit of oil, some chilli powder and lemon juice. You're supposed to add garlic too, but I was too lazy to chop some up! That's from the Jamie Oliver cook book. He has some lovely veg recipes in there. Another one I do sometimes is potatoes, carrots, peas and broccoli all together and mashed with mint sauce.

    When it gets colder I like to make soup - loads of veggies and some lentils.

    If I make shepherd's pie I use sweet potato mash on top instead of normal potatoes.

    That zucchini dish sounds fantastic Dawn!!! I am definitely going to have to try that! Hmm mint sauce, never heard of that! Sound interesting!!
  • vegafalling
    vegafalling Posts: 8 Member
    I love veggies, but struggled with a lot of them and even some fruits until I was older because as a child my parents were poor, and bought canned vegetables. No disrespect to the canned veggie, they are still very good for you but as a result I "thought" I didn't like certain ones until later in life when I was able to try them fresh.
  • dellrio
    dellrio Posts: 131 Member
    I do love and have always loved veggies - fresh or frozen, don't care much for canned ones. 5 Years ago I stopped eating meat which prompted me to increase my veggie intake - after 5 years they just get better and better, and the more you eat them and cook with them the more you appreciate the natural flavors.
  • lisamarie2181
    lisamarie2181 Posts: 560 Member
    I'm in between when it comes to vegetables. I like most of them but some I have to eat cooked in with other foods, like peas for instance, I can't stand them alone but in casserole they're tolerable & radishes too much bite :sick: but with a good salad...not so bad...:ohwell:

    I agree, some veggies when mixed do taste better then on their own! I never used to add other veggies to my salad besides the basic lettuce, tomato - now i do a ton lol i put cauliflower, celery, broccoli, onion, love it all in my salad, except for carrot for some reason, like those on their own!
  • emmy3111
    emmy3111 Posts: 482 Member
    Love veggies!!! Current faves are sugar snap peas and cherry tomatoes, but really, I can't think of any I don't like or won't eat...
  • LadyBeryl
    LadyBeryl Posts: 344 Member
    Veggies and more veggies for me. Considering how little meat I eat, I'd almost starve if I didn't like veggies. Cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts, all kinds of lettuce, RED onions, corn, baby carrots, green beans, turnip/collard/mustard greens, cucumber, peppers -- all kinds. (I'm going on like Bubba in Forest Gump.) I make a MEAN salad.

    Shall we start on "who likes fruit"? :laugh:
  • bluefox9er
    bluefox9er Posts: 2,917 Member
    as a vegetarian my entire life, my carnivorous friends have this curious notion that veggies are eaten raw ONLY or smothered in Hummous. this simply isn't true. Veggies can taste awful raw or steamed, but add them to a curry or a dry fry fajita mix etc and they become totally different...their flavours take on an entire new taste. it's how you cook them,season them etc that makes them taste so great.
  • lisamarie2181
    lisamarie2181 Posts: 560 Member
    I love veggies, but struggled with a lot of them and even some fruits until I was older because as a child my parents were poor, and bought canned vegetables. No disrespect to the canned veggie, they are still very good for you but as a result I "thought" I didn't like certain ones until later in life when I was able to try them fresh.

    Completely agree! My mom used to give me canned mushrooms all the time, and now i never eat them because I love the fresh so much! I will admit I do have a soft spot for canned green beans, for some reason I like them alot better then the fresh, but I'm thinking its because I grew up eating the canned. I will eat fresh, but I eat a lot of NSA canned ones! i can eat a whole can for about 70 cals! lol

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