I would have to go with turnips. Incredibly versatile and nutritious root, plus delicious greens to fry up
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People say they hate cabbage all the time, but cabbage is really great. You can make slaw with it, you can ferment it into sauerkraut or kimchi, you can steam it for a side or to put in a sandwich, you can add it to any kind of filling or stuffing, or you can roll other stuff inside it, you can boil it in a soup, it gives a great flavor to vegetable broth, it’s really nutritious and it keeps for much longer than other leafy greens.
Seems weird to me to hate cabbage, but I suppose there is a certain association with certain very bland cooking? Idk.
I garnered a very low opinion of pretty much all vegetables during childhood that persisted well into adulthood, because I grew up in a household that only ever prepared them one of two ways: raw, or boiled.
Doesn’t matter what it was. Carrots, peas, corn, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, green beans… the two exceptions being onions (which may have been fried on occasion) or potatoes (which culinarily aren’t in the same category). If it was boiled, there’d be a half-assed attempt to make it taste like something again by melting a knob of butter on it and salting it. That’s it.
When that’s the extent of your culinary range, cabbage has no reason to enter the house, so for us it never did. We just assumed it would be shit if you prepared it that way. And we were probably right. Boiled cabbage is what the poor Bucket family was said to have eaten every day in Willy Wonka. Doesn’t paint a glamorous picture.
I’m only just now coming around to the concept of vegetables tasting good when you, like, y’know, actually cook them well. Haven’t given cabbage a fair shake yet, though.
I used to hate cabbage because my father boiled the crap out of it with corned beef every St. Patrick’s Day. Disgusting.
Then I discovered stir fry, okonomiyaki, kimchi. Now it’s a favorite.
Cabbage boiled with corn beef sounds legit amazing. Is that an Irish thing?
Irish-American, yeah.
Maybe it’d be better if it wasn’t boiled into a limp mess. 🙄
its really good lol
I’ve become a cabbage hater. Cabbage soup smells like cabbage farts and it actually makes me gag.
And farts.
I love most vegetables, but cabbage isn’t one of them. I don’t like any of the things you just mentioned.
If you haven’t tried cabbage and ham pie, you should. It’s the Irish cousin of shepherds pie and it’s incredible.
Raw cabbage is also super interesting as an ingredient, it’s actually spicy as fuck.
I’m a big fan of certain cabbage like napa. Also cole slaw with purple cabbage is pretty great.
Cut it stripes, some salt, fry in a pan and you can throw it over a lot of dishes.
Botanical fun fact: cabbage is just a variant of Brassica oleracea, which includes like every tasty vegetable on the planet: cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts, kohlrabi, kale, collards, all kinds of cabbage shapes, colours and sizes, and more.
And it has antiviral properties!
I quite like Brussels sprouts.
Since the late 90’s Brussel Sprouts no longer taste bitter/bad. Some Dutch food scientists were able to isolate the bitter tasting chemical, find older variations of Brussel sprouts that had less of it, cross pollinate it with higher yield variations, and remove the bad taste.
That version is pretty much the only one you’ll find to buy anywhere.
So basically it’s everyone who had Brussels Sprouts pre 1999 who really universally hated them. The youngins never knew they used to taste like shit, and the old timers haven’t tried them in over 25 years because they don’t know they no longer taste like shit.
To be honest… I’ve tried them again and still think they’re shit. Not nearly as bad but still not good.
YMMV.
Definitely!
I’ve got my kids eating them steamed and plain!
With some rich gravy covering it. Naturally.
Brussel sprouts. Lots of people hate them because they got them overcooked as children but they are so pretty and so delicious if prepared properly.
Fun fact: Brussel sprouts taste better now because the bitterness was intentionally selectively bred out of them in the '90s. They were, apparently, only bitter for a period of time because the ones that were easiest to mechanically harvest were bitter. Pre-mechanical harvesting, less bitter varieties were more popular.
https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/do-brussels-sprouts-taste-better-now-yes-here-s-why-01ghed9q8dr8
Dang. That answers a question I didn’t even know how to ask. Thanks!
Went to a friend’s house one day, she put salt and pepper on a tray of brussel sprouts, put in broiler for a short time. Changed my mind forever, delicious.
My dad used to sautee them with bits of bacon or prosciutto. I don’t eat pork anymore, but god damn do I miss those Brussels sprouts.
Oh man cauliflower. I used to think cauliflower was broccoli’s ugly sister but no way. Cauliflower is cheap, easy to grow, nutritious, and versatile.
Thanks for reminding me there’s half in my fridge I forgot about. I don’t think it’s too late!
Actually on that, a good veg needs to last long in the fridge. Cauliflower hits that brief.
Germany, I’m guessing? I’m jealous, here it’s one of the most expensive vegetables.
Australia. I take need to leave this .de instance.
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Most people where I live haven’t heard of it let alone tried it. They’re missing out, nothing tastes quite the same as ripe jackfruit.
I like beets for the same reason, but cabbage is underrated in its versatility. I’m making Romanian sarmale tomorrow with pork/beef/rice cabbage rolls: https://www.jocooks.com/recipes/sarmale/ . Much better than dolmas and the cabbage adds so much body and flavour to the dish.
I had never really used cabbage to wrap things. Thanks for the tip and idea
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Popcorn
As a couch potato, I agree
I appreciate your enjoyment of turnips, but those ain’t got shit on parsnips. Parsnips are amazing!
If you want a treat, mash chopped and boiled parsnips and carrots together for Thanksgiving instead of potatoes.
Parsnips are the devil’s carrot. I have hated them with a passion since childhood.
So I read why they dropped out of popularity in Southern Europe following the arrival of the potato. It’s because to be actually tasty and sweet, the parsnip plant needs to be hit by a hard frost - which presumably just doesn’t happen in Southern Europe, and is probably why I can’t very tasty parsnips these days in England - because we get fewer hard frosts.
Ah, as someone from New England and then Canada, I’ve certainly had frosty parsnips.
I was with you until you did potatoes dirty.
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I feel like most of them. People hate on broccoli, but I think it’s amazing. Zucchini is one of my favorites.
Moringa leaves. The tree’s hardy and ecologically sustainable. The drumstick fruits and the pods are edible but the leaves are the most nutritious. It also has the highest protein among leafy greens.
In south and south east asia, we consider it medicinal. But actually, it’s just nutritious. We feed them in soup form to malnourished people and nursing mothers.
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We eat it the same way! Though ours is a bit more watery and less spicy. Our Myanmar version also originated from southern India. The drumstick’s eaten quite commonly but I think the leaves are still underrated, even here. May be because of the taste? Although I like it’s taste in a simple savory soup.
I just looked this one up. I have never had this vegetable before
Courgettes / zucchini I can eat them raw, shredded, souped, fried, the lot
And you can have them for free in Canada when the season is right. Seriously, there’s jokes about people only locking their door to keep unwanted zucchinis out.
I wish I liked them. They seem so useful and plentiful, but they taste so utterly interesting to me. Yes, if they are slathered in oil and perfectly grilled and seasoned, they are fine. But then again what isn’t.
That’s a fair point. All veggies are good when oiled and grilled
Zucchini is also good grilled. Good stuff
Are they underrated though. Most people seem to like them
Green beans. My wife keeps growing different kinds of beans and I find myself yearning for the perfect green pods. Scarlet Runner was surprisingly fantastic last year, eaten green. This year she grew Yard Long beans and those were wonderful too.
My wife grew purple green beans this year! Taste was the same but it was fun! Love them raw just picked and raw frozen and boiled with butter and salt, all! Store frozen green beans just aren’t the same, especially for snacking.
Spinach. Its amazing. Kale same deal. Its all in how its prepared.
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From the Wikipedia page it looks like this is what I already do, except with a boiled egg instead of paneer. But yeah boiled spinach + tomatoes + onions is the best combo.
Celery. Chop it up finely and add to sauces and stews; great in bolognaise for added umami flavour.
Also carrots, cooked and blended into sauces and gravy, adds sweetness. And don’t forget carrot cake, which surprisingly does not taste of carrots, but they give it a real moistness.
Bitter melon. Love the stuff. Stir fry with burned garlic and oyster sauce.
Betel leaves too. Stir fry them with beef slices and black pepper, and maybe some sauce.
I have a bunch of bitter melon growing in my yard as a weed. I didn’t even know people ate it
In Vietnam, we call it khổ qua, maybe that will help identify if it’s what we think it is with a quick search :)
We also use it to make a tea, but I’m not sure if it’s actually good or just for supposed magical properties.
Very interesting. It seems the bitter melon that grows wild here in the south east USA is an invasive variety. It seems that it is also technically edible but generally considered a bit shit compared to the larger fruit you all get.
At least the birds seem to like it. I’ll have to try the real thing some day.
