Ugh! Vegetables!

allandanyways

I need help in the vegetable aisle.

Since I was little, I've only ever liked potatoes. I had a brief love affair with sweetcorn and I'll eat a corn on the cob if they're going but I don't liked cooked vegetables on their own as a rule.

Example: I love onions and peppers, but only when they're part of a dish with a sauce or a stirfry or something. I eat baby tomatoes raw (can't stand them cooked) and I'd eat salady stuff aswell.

But I want to get healthy this year (doesn't everybody?) and I know I need to incorporate some kind of decent vegetable into my diet, something I can have with my dinner. If I were to have fish, I have a baked potatoe with it. If I have chicken, I'll make mash or some new potatoes. I know I'm losing out on important vitamins and minerals because I don't eat greens or carrots or turnips or anything but I absolutley can't stand the taste of them.

I eat alot of fruit, but you have to have a mix. I don't know if anybody can advise me what to do, has anybody had this problem and overcome it? I know I need to do it for the good of my body but I HATE VEGETABLES.

rantyface

Try new ones like baked sweet potato instead of normal potato. Try raw carrots with dip. You could make a spicy curry or stir fry and it would hide all sorts of vegetable flavours if you really don't like them.
I like to mix sweetcorn from a tin and garden peas and mix it into my mashed potato. Do you like soup? It can be an easy way to get lots of veg in without them seeming like veg. I love spicy carrot and lentil blended soup and normal mammy style chunky veg soup.

Piste

Veg can lose a lot of delicious texture and flavour when cooked, so you sound like a total raw-veg kinda person. try experimenting, raw carrot with dips like hummous and guacamole (PROPER Guacamole, not cheese dip with green food colouring and "avocado powder" I had the misfortune of eating today). Try raw celery with dips too. I personally hate the stuff, but some people like it, and the dips mask the taste.

Beetroot! That's a good one, pickled beetroot adds tons of flavour to salad and sandwiches.

I adore broccolli, I find it hard to cook right though. I either end up with it too crunchy so I can barely eat it, or soggy and flavourless. Try sticking it into your curries near the end as you're simmering them.

Jesus Wept

Piste wrote: »

Veg can lose a lot of delicious texture and flavour when cooked, so you sound like a total raw-veg kinda person. try experimenting, raw carrot with dips like hummous and guacamole (PROPER Guacamole, not cheese dip with green food colouring and "avocado powder" I had the misfortune of eating today). Try raw celery with dips too. I personally hate the stuff, but some people like it, and the dips mask the taste.

Beetroot! That's a good one, pickled beetroot adds tons of flavour to salad and sandwiches.

I adore broccolli, I find it hard to cook right though. I either end up with it too crunchy so I can barely eat it, or soggy and flavourless. Try sticking it into your curries near the end as you're simmering them.

On occasion, I've managed to get brocolli (usually in a chinese restaurant/takeaway) that is incredibly crunchy and tasty, I'd eat it by itself.
Wish I could do that myself!

Piste

The sautéd broccolli in corriander from Bombay Pantry is divine, I could never recreate it in the kitchen myself though

brianthebard

If you like mash then I don't know why you can't add carrots, turnips, broccoli, butternut squash and other things to your potatos and mash them. Probably my favourite way to eat broccoli is to mash it with potatoes. The other half of the equation really is to suck it up and start eating veg regularly and develop a taste for it. I know some won't agree with that but I definitely think a lot of people need to just eat more veg until they start to like them, I don't think I used to like spinach or broc or turnips when I was younger, but after buying meals in the canteen or resturant where they are present I learned to eat what was on the plate I paid for.

smallgarden

hey i find green beans have little flavour,theyre nice stir fried,also sugar snap peas are good stir fried too.broccolli is nicest in the microwave.it can be nice stir fried but can taint taste of everything else in the stirfry.
some meals you can add in veg very easily like bolognese sauce,carrots,celery.mushrooms,peppers,onions,courgette etc if you cut it up small you barely notice taste or look of it

allandanyways

Success! Chopped some broccolli and a little bit of courgette realllllly small and threw it into the stirfry this evening, worked a treat, couldn't really taste them, but that was the point. One step forward anyway!

hedgeh0g

Anything that has mash over it and baked as a pie in an oven is lovely.

Sapsorrow

For people with food phobias and eating disorders (not saying this is your prob but vaguely similar in a way) exercises where you set yourself a goal everyday such as to eat a few mouthfulls of a new fresh vegetable or fruit on it's on slowly whilst trying to appreciate it's flavour are good. You must maintain this exercise at the same time (roughly, before meals it the best because you'll be the most hungry then and the food will naturally taste better) every day for as long as needed until you learn to enjoy the food or at least not be repulsed by it and then move onto a new one. Seeing as you case isn't nearly so drastic as this, I'd reccomend working with a salad (cooked) or side dish with a few different vegetables in it and eat each piece individually. You'll learn to like them in now time, it's based on re-programming your emotional responses to food and training yourself to actually enjoy them and look forward to eating them.
I used to dislike lots of veg (mushrooms, peppers, brocoli, brussels sprouts etc..) when I was younger but I started forcing myself to eat them anyway when I became interested in nutrition and now after a few years I LOVE them!
Don't worry persevere a bit and you'll like them in no time, try getting a few cook books for vegetarian side dishes to help incorporate some simple vegetable dishes to have as an accompaniment to your meat or fish etc..

signal terror

I know I need to incorporate some kind of decent vegetable into my diet

No you don't,not if you want to be healthy anyway.Vegetables are not good for you and I'd go as far as to say they're bad for you.Think for a minute about why you don't like them..It's because you're not meant to eat them.

Macha

I just finished reading Michael Pollan's In Defence of Food (highly recommended). He talks about how fat, sugar and calorie-dense foods are very rare in nature and so we are designed to seek these foods out.

Basically today's food companies (let's face it - it's practically all of them at this stage) make their money out of pressing our evolutionary buttons, as he puts it.

I have also read that children naturally go for sweeter, blander tastes because these foods tend to be safer - perhaps another evolutionary explanation.

OP, there are a few tricks I used before I learned to like vegetables
- hide the veg in a soup
- put them in a bolognese sauce
- use a sauce that you like (eg steam/microwave some broccoli & mix with a teaspoon of pesto - yum..
- you would be amazed at what a squeeze of lemon juice does to some cooked broccoli or spinach - seriously delicious.
- how about trying some salads when you're out at a restaurant and see what you like? Then you could recreate the ones that you like at home.

Sapsorrow

taconnol wrote: »

I have also read that children naturally go for sweeter, blander tastes because these foods tend to be safer - perhaps another evolutionary explanation.

Yes thats true thats an evolutionary adaptation to times of feast and famine (when we were hunter gatherers) when we would have desperately needed any bit of carbohydrate (fruit sugar) and fat (meat and nuts) we could get our hands on in order to survive the winters etc..
Babies do have an innate dislike of bitterness in foods, the theory is that this protects them from eating anything poisonous until thy're old enough to copy the adults behaviour accurately rather than just sticking any thing lying around into their mouths as babies do. Thats why we depend on culture to teach us what foods are safe, our ancestors would have learnt through trial and error which foods are safe to use over generations regardless of bitterness. It's often the bitter chemical components in plant foods that exert the most important bioactive properties, this is why cruciferous vegetables are a 'superfood' -que temple beating for saying superfood!

Sapsorrow

signal terror wrote: »

No you don't,not if you want to be healthy anyway.Vegetables are not good for you and I'd go as far as to say they're bad for you.Think for a minute about why you don't like them..It's because you're not meant to eat them.

You've made me laugh twice today! Usually I hate this approach but I have to ask, any chance you can back yourself up with some evidence as in proper peer reviewed scientific papers? I have to see this if it exists!

El_Dangeroso

khrystyna100 wrote: »

Yes thats true thats an evolutionary adaptation to times of feast and famine (when we were hunter gatherers) when we would have desperately needed any bit of carbohydrate (fruit sugar) and fat (meat and nuts) we could get our hands on in order to survive the winters etc..
Babies do have an innate dislike of bitterness in foods, the theory is that this protects them from eating anything poisonous until thy're old enough to copy the adults behaviour accurately rather than just sticking any thing lying around into their mouths as babies do. Thats why we depend on culture to teach us what foods are safe, our ancestors would have learnt through trial and error which foods are safe to use over generations regardless of bitterness. It's often the bitter chemical components in plant foods that exert the most important bioactive properties, this is why cruciferous vegetables are a 'superfood' -que temple beating for saying superfood!

*Gets paddle*

Hmm, I'll let that one go

You're wading a little out of your depth there into anthropological theory territory with the rest of the post. I frequent some evolutionary nutrition forums and you'd get torn to shreds for saying the above. Luckily I'm nice so I'll let you off with a warning to stick to nutrition, not anthropology. :pac:

Sapsorrow

Temple_Grandin wrote: »

*Gets paddle*

Hmm, I'll let that one go

You're wading a little out of your depth there into anthropological theory territory with the rest of the post. I frequent some evolutionary nutrition forums and you'd get torn to shreds for saying the above. Luckily I'm nice so I'll let you off with a warning to stick to nutrition, not anthropology. :pac:

Really? I'm actually just referring to what we were told in college (did a module called determinants of eating behaviour) I didn't realise it was a particularly controversial theory! You're right though the anthro stuff isn't really something I know much about we only touched on it in college on and off, I don't consider it massively usefull from what I know of it.
What're the alternative theories on the bitterness thing?If you could post em in GI joe it'd be cool, so as to not sabbotage this thread anymore!

onimpulse

Try soup.

I have exactly the same problem as you & about a year ago or so discovered how to make home made soup. I usually cook a random mix of veg that I normally wouldn't eat in a fit, liquidise it & make sure you dont' forget the stock cube! Experiment a bit & you'll find a mix you like a lot, it's the only way I can eat most veg!

beks101

I agree with Brianthebard in terms of just sucking it up until you get used to the taste of them, but you'd be amazed how fast your taste buds adapt and soon you'll begin to feel like a meal isn't complete unless you've had a good serving of fresh veg. That's my experience anyway.

Throw a variety of veg - broccoli, spinach, carrots & cauliflower, for example - into a steamer for a few minutes and serve with some sort of sauce. My personal favourite is tomato & basil pasta sauce (Jamie Oliver does a great one!) or sweet chilli sauce. You'd be amazed how tasty it is!

bungaro

am the exact same as you OP, not a good veg eater at all. read a jason vale book on juicing before christmas so bought myself a good juicer from amazon and since the start of the new year have been juicing and loving it!! i'm having stuff like brocolli, carrots, celery, beetroot as well as a bit of fruit to make it nice to drink!! they are delicious and would really recommend checking it out

Sapsorrow

bungaro wrote: »

am the exact same as you OP, not a good veg eater at all. read a jason vale book on juicing before christmas so bought myself a good juicer from amazon and since the start of the new year have been juicing and loving it!! i'm having stuff like brocolli, carrots, celery, beetroot as well as a bit of fruit to make it nice to drink!! they are delicious and would really recommend checking it out

Great tip!
Spinach, kale and bok choi leaves are good thrown into fruit smoothies and juices too to boost the nutrient profile. You can also add soy, nut, grain or regular milk, coconut milk, seeds and nuts (esp ground flax) for healthy fats and protein powders etc..

LimeFruitGum

bungaro wrote: »

am the exact same as you OP, not a good veg eater at all. read a jason vale book on juicing before christmas so bought myself a good juicer from amazon and since the start of the new year have been juicing and loving it!! i'm having stuff like brocolli, carrots, celery, beetroot as well as a bit of fruit to make it nice to drink!! they are delicious and would really recommend checking it out

+1 I used to detest veg with the exception of spuds, baked beans, sweetcorn and mushrooms when I was at home. Basically I never bothered eating other veg for years, unless I was eating at someone's house and had to eat them to be polite.
Unfortunately, with hindsight I realised that my mother wasn't the best of cooks, God bless her, so that's why I never liked eating veg at home, because she boiled the bejaysis out them:rolleyes:

Once I moved out, I had to learn to cook for myself. so I had to just get over it. I'm still a bit meh on turnips, parsnips and swedes, but I like carrots, celery, spinach, broccoli, kidney & black beans, french beans, mangetout.

Juices & soups are a great way of incorporating extra veg & fruit into your diet.
Just try one new item every week, find an interesting receipe in which you can use it and see how you get on.

moretothegirl

I totally sympathise with thsi situation, I hate most veggies too but i find juicing them great and also the soup suggestion!

My own personal tip is to eat stir frys as that is how I have overcome my prob with veggies! i will have a stir fry and mix in some noodles with some sweet and sour or spicy sauce YUM or my other tip is stir fry veggies then put them in a wrap and toast it on your george forman or sandwich toaster with some cheese. yum. try find a salad dressing you like as this can disguise the taste very well. I found one in tesco I cant remember the name of it but i can check if you want? be careful not to get one high in calories or fat like caesar salads! the one i get has a nice strong taste but low fat and low calories and i sprinkle it over my wrap full of strir fried veggies yum

Sofiztikated

Hey guys.

I'm bumping this thread, because its relevent to me as well.

For years, I've been surviving on potatoes (in one shape or another, chips, mash, roasted, you get the picture), meat (as long as its not in sauce, and doesn't matter what meat, beef, pork, chicken, lamb, but not fish, oh no, not fish) and junk food.

I am 26, 5'8" (ish) and currently weigh in at a grand total of 55kgs, or 8.5 stone to Joe Soap in the street.

I got to like onions, simply because one day I took a notion of getting onion rings from the chipper, and realised I liked them.

I'm working on eating peppers at the moment, because was at a polish party a while ago, and they had strips of peppers raw for nibbles, and one of the guys got me to try the red one, and I DIDN'T DIE! I am currently putting them into fajitas, with chicken.

However, I can't bring myself to eat green food. Even when I put green peppers into the fajitas, I noticed when I finished, I had a pile of green peppers on the side of my plate.

It just tastes of green to me! All of the green foods, be they peppers, peas, cabbage, lettuce, whatever. It tastes of green. I know it sounds odd to say a food tastes of a colour, but it does.

I want to start eating proper food as

a) I know I need to eat healthier food
b) I want to gain weight. (I know, eating salady type stuff to GAIN weight! But I figure I haven't put on weight in years, and haven't eaten veg at all, so it can't hurt, right?)
c) I'm fed up with people thinking I'm a freaky eater.

So I think I just have to man up, and try them. But seriously, the thought of eating green foods just turn my stomach, and give me the shivers. Just beginning to wonder do I have an eating disorder!

smallgarden

hey u shld try sugarsnap peas,theyre lovely in a stir fry.also green beans are quite nice too.
key with alot of green veg is not to overcook them,for example overcooked broccolli is rank!

im fussy as well even lettuce which i think is useless veg repeats on me!

Sapsorrow

Sofiztikated wrote: »

However, I can't bring myself to eat green food. Even when I put green peppers into the fajitas, I noticed when I finished, I had a pile of green peppers on the side of my plate.

It just tastes of green to me! All of the green foods, be they peppers, peas, cabbage, lettuce, whatever. It tastes of green. I know it sounds odd to say a food tastes of a colour, but it does.

I have the perfect solution for you, I came up with this smoothie today and it tasted lovely really fruity and sweet and was a really deep purple despite having a sh*t load of baby leaf spinach in it. You could leave out the flax and almond meal if you wanted to and use a banana instead of yoghurt. There wasn't even a slight taste of 'green' (ie spinach) off it.
It's really important you eat green veg, they're arguably the most important veg to eat!

Blitz in any food processor until completely smooth:

1 cup frozen strawberries and 1 of rasberries or 2 cups berry mix - lidl have very good value big bags (strawberries, rasberries and summer fruits mix) for 3 euro!!!

1-4 cups of pomegranate juice or other fruit juice (depending on how runny you like em)

1/2-1 cup plain yoghurt or some silken tofu or a bananan (or a combination of these)

a few drops of vanilla extract

1-2 tsp honey, xylitol, maple syrup or a pinch of stevia (optional)

1/2+ of big bag of baby leaf spinach (or bok choi would work too or kale if you're feeling adventurous)

3-4 heaped tbs ground flax seed

3-4 heaped tbs ground almonds or a 1-2 tbs nut butter (I think the butter would be really good!)

Sofiztikated

Hey khrystyna100, thanks for the suggestion.

Hmm, smoothies, I don't really like them, I find them too thick. I can give it a go though.

Something I forgot to mention, I like fruits though, apples (red and green :pac:) bananas, oranges, pineapple (mmm, pineapple) lemon, lime (other green, hey maybe I'm not THAT bad :cool:)

I just don't particularly factor them into my eating. If I had the option of eating crisps or fruit, I'd go crisps. In fact, most of the time, if it was fruit or nothing, I'd usually go with the nothing option.

That smoothie, even the thought of putting spinach into a smoothie and putting it into my mouth really makes me shiver.

Flax I would have no problem with, however, the almonds would be a no. Just do not like them.

Another thing that I have issue with is "hiding" food.

I mean, I like my meals set out. Potatoes there. Meat there. Sauce (if I am having it) there.

Don't do shepherds pie because then the meat is hidden by the mash, and god knows what could be hiding in it, peas or something!

I do eat curries though, I like spicy. Usually the Sharwoods ones, Rogan Josh, or d'you know what is damn nice, Kung Po chicken. Love that, and usually clean the plate. However, rice is a no. (But I intend to overcome that as well!)

smallgarden

smoothieswise i used to get tesco frozen mix which then added pomegranite juice and they were lovely.it was basically just sliced stawberry and banana

with rice try different types of rice.i dont really like long grain rice but quite like basmati.much nicer.also avoid boil in the bag type ones as they dont tend to taste great,to me anyways!

Sofiztikated

Think my issue with rice is that I was a fussy eater anyway when I was young, and saw the Lost Boys (I think) where the rice turned into maggots and the like!

Even still, if I'm faced with a plate of cooked rice, I swear I can see it moving.

The thing is, I don't mind cooking these things. In fact, I enjoy cooking, its just the eating of the food I have issue with!

Sapsorrow

ya it's a tough one alright sophiztikated. Would you have the problem with 'hiding' even if you prepared the food yourself and knew exactly what went in it?
I think if you're not getting any greens in you should go on a spirulina or chlorella supplement at the maximum reccomended dose and also a very good multivitamin for now until you work through it, ask at you local health food store if you decide to.
I think for your sort of food phobias it would take a lot of determination and effort on your part to just dedicate yourself everyday to sitting down and trying to eat small amounts of the foods you really don't like (obviously only the healthy necessary ones) until you get beyond the repulsion stage at least. I think working with a professional would be a good idea if this is something you want to overcome.
An exercise to try is to cut small pieces of a small selection of plain ungarnished raw or cooked vegetables (just one of each type) and sit down and eat a bite of each one, and repeat this everyday until it becomes bareable and then when you're ready try incorporating the one you found most easily acceptable into your meals until it's no longer any sort of any issue for you and then move onto the next one, so you are continually expanding you number of 'accepatable' foods. The company of a family member or close friend to be with you for moral support while you do it wouldn be a good idea.

Sofiztikated

Yup, can't hide it if I know its there!

I've been living with this for all my life, and its so hard to try and break the bad habits of a life time! But have decided enough is enough!

Going to have to munch down some multivitamins, which I am, I just keep forgetting to take them.

The repitition exercise you suggested is exactly what I had in mind. Got the idea from that Freaky Eaters show on Beeb3, but have been putting it off and off!