Veggies you never knew you liked

There are no veggies that I do not like and will not eat.

Grew up in an "ethnic" household where many rare and unusual ingredients were used in cooking (many that I still cook myself) and this made it easy for me to accept eating virtually anything.

Fiddleheads and rainbow chard!

I've eaten a variety of veggies since I was a kid; I'm on blood thinners now so I have to watch my intake of leafy greens because of the vitamin K. Here are a few that I love:

Rapini (aka broccoli rabe) - looks like anemic broccoli, it's bitter and great sauteed with some sausage.
Artichokes - love artichoke hearts, also love Sicilian-style stuffed whole artichokes.
Morels - the most delicious mushrooms you've ever eaten, but very expensive. Used to pick them myself.
Seaweed salad, Japanese style
Fennel - I make a caponata that includes fennel as an ingredient.
JIcama - kind of a water chestnut/coconut crunch, slightly sweet
Beets - love them pickled, want to try roasting them in the oven.

A couple I haven't tried that I'd like to:

Japanese shishito peppers
Cardoon

Long beans are my newest favorite, they tend to be pretty cheap at Asian markets (ranch 99, etc) and have a good amount of fiber, similar taste to green beans but a bit “heartier”

I always ate beets boiled, but only liked them in a high calorie recipe which included tons of mayo. A few years ago I started eating them raw, grated. They're freaking delicious. Mixed with raw grated carrots, add some lemon juice and olive oil, mhh delicious. You can also mix the grated beets with grated horseradish roots and vinegar to make ćwikła, a Polish sauce that's great for meats (but I eat it as a dip as well haha).

I also learned to eat the leaves of the beets. The big ones are a bit hard, so I cook them like I would do with spinach preparations. But the small ones are really tender, and they are awesome raw on a salad: a bunch of arugula and beet leaves with small bits of blue cheese and walnuts, cherry tomatoes, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. That's the perfect salad for me.

And you can eat the leaves from the radish as well. The texture is weird so I always cook them, but they are delicious!

Another vegetable that I recently tried and loved is cooking bananas (plantains). They are a great source of fibers and vitamins. They are usually fried, but I make mash with them (Mangú, a Dominican dish) or have them in some deserts (plantains & chocolate truffles.. mhh).

Eggplant is the only one that I've discovered I like recently. There's plenty that I eat as an adult that I wouldn't eat as a kid (green beans, spinach, cucumbers, zucchini, to name a few).

Still don't like beets or turnips.

I like most veggies but for me it's been radishes. I hated them growing up. I will not eat them raw. They tasted spicy and bitter. Now I put them in a roast in the place of potatoes because once they are cooked they taste very good, no hot or bitter taste and just taste plain almost like a white potato.

Edible flowers (squash blossoms) inside of an empanada.

crazyravr wrote: »

Im gonna be honest here. I have not met a veggie I did not like, yet.

I second. I used to just judge them from what people said. Now? It's a love affair.

I've been exposed to all kinds of vegetables since I was a kid, so it's rare for me to find something new, but a while ago I had these baby greens I really enjoyed. I didn't know what they were, but I believe they were baby red chard or, more likely, baby beet greens, based on others' feedback on here. Such a great earthy flavor. I know I like the vast majority of vegetables (except sweet ones), so I wasn't expecting to hate them, but I didn't expect to like them so much.