Vegetables and me - a hate/hate relationship

K!LL!@N · 27-08-2004 12:08AM #1

Ok, this is a serious post.
I was just about to put it on the food/drink board but i don't think that many people read the food/drink board.
If mods think it doesn't belond here then by all means move it to food/drink.

I'm looking for tips/tricks/advice on how i can fool my brain into thinking it likes vegetables.

I can't stand most vegetables.
Like any good irish person, i love my potatoes but i can probably count on one hand the amount of other vegetables i can stand to eat.

I know vegetables are good for you, provide lots of vitamins/minerals/nutrients but i just can't stand to eat them.

I'll try and list the vegetables i can eat, i won't say like because i don't really like any of them.

Carrots: sometimes i can eat them others i can't. And i certainly can't eat them by themselves, they need to mashed into potatoe or sliced really thinnly and mixed with something else. And no way could i eat a raw carrot.

Broccolli: again i can eat this but only flowery part, not the stalk. This also needs to be disguised in some way.

Corn: i think this is a vegetable. I can eat corn on the cob and i don't mind having corn added to things. But sweet corn is just too sweet and it's probably not all that great coming from a can, is it?

Aubergines: an unusual one this. i can't remember where i discovered this but i don't mind adding this. it doesn't really have a taste and when it's mixed with other stuff i hardly know it's there.

Ok, i'm struggling to think of other stuff now.

I've recently discovered that i quite like tomatoes, i know they're not really a vegetable but they're good for you right?

The thing that puts me off vegetables apart from not liking the taste is the texture. I hate the crunchiness of vegetables and people say they have the most nutrients when they're crunchy because the goodness hasn't been cooked out of them.

I have tried in the past to throw lots of vegetables into a pan and stirfry them in olive oil and soy sauce but i invariably end up dumping loads of salt on them as well to mask the taste.

I want to try and cut down on the amount of salt i eat but that's a whole different story. I've been gradually reducing the amount of salt over the last while.

So, what can i do?
I want to eat more vegetables but if i can't disguise the taste i won't last long.

Anyone got any tips?
Anyone overcome their dislike of vegetables?

I'm looking for serious advice here.

Cheers,

Killian

munkeehaven · 27-08-2004 12:18AM

im in teh same situation as you, i like to be healthy but in all honesty i find veggies to be so phucking boring. FRUIT i love and could eat forever but veggies....

here's my advice..you like tomatoes yeah? next time you are having bolognese try making a homemade one instead of the jar one...use like tinned tomatoes,onions,herbs,garlic,parmesan... whatever you want to make a healthy sauce and add your own secret ingredient. also SOUP is a nice way to eat veggies....try to buy a mixer.....yeah aubergerines are horrible like cucumbers, they just taste like stale water...i like carrots because they are sweet.....hmmm broccoli is also a hard thing to stomach i just make myself eat it...but its actually bearable when you make a broccoli and cauliflower bake with cheese...just mix flour,cheese and milk together to make a nice smooth sauce and pour over some cooked broc+cauli and bake in the oven till crispy..nice with taters....... try look up a recipe for that to get the method right..

ALSO do you know whats nice in a curry? raisins apples peppers...carrots and aubergerines......when i make curry i use them ingredients sometimes with meat and sometimes not..i also add coconut milk/curry powder/onions/turmeric/paprika/sour cream.....(im a bit of a chancer when it comes to cooking-anything goes once it tastes nice!!

)

Flukey · 27-08-2004 12:20AM

I am not a veg fan, but only when they are cooked. I know you may not agree but raw carrots, cabbage, turnip etc. are lovely and a lot nicer than when they are cooked! That is the way I like them, nice and raw, with all their crispiness and flavour, which cooking dilutes!

K!LL!@N · 27-08-2004 12:32AM

Flukey wrote:

I am not a veg fan, but only when they are cooked. I know you may not agree but raw carrots, cabbage, turnip etc. are lovely and a lot nicer than when they are cooked! That is the way I like them, nice and raw, with all their crispiness and flavour, which cooking dilutes!

It's the crispiness and flavour i'm trying to get rid of. :eek:

Killian

K!LL!@N · 27-08-2004 12:41AM

munkeehaven wrote:

im in teh same situation as you, i like to be healthy but in all honesty i find veggies to be so phucking boring. FRUIT i love and could eat forever but veggies....

here's my advice..you like tomatoes yeah? next time you are having bolognese try making a homemade one instead of the jar one...use like tinned tomatoes,onions,herbs,garlic,parmesan... whatever you want to make a healthy sauce and add your own secret ingredient. also SOUP is a nice way to eat veggies....try to buy a mixer.....yeah aubergerines are horrible like cucumbers, they just taste like stale water...i like carrots because they are sweet.....hmmm broccoli is also a hard thing to stomach i just make myself eat it...but its actually bearable when you make a broccoli and cauliflower bake with cheese...just mix flour,cheese and milk together to make a nice smooth sauce and pour over some cooked broc+cauli and bake in the oven till crispy..nice with taters....... try look up a recipe for that to get the method right..

ALSO do you know whats nice in a curry? raisins apples peppers...carrots and aubergerines......when i make curry i use them ingredients sometimes with meat and sometimes not..i also add coconut milk/curry powder/onions/turmeric/paprika/sour cream.....(im a bit of a chancer when it comes to cooking-anything goes once it tastes nice!! )

Some good ideas in there.
I do like fruit, but i find i eat lots of the same fruit and then i get sick of it and stop eating it all together.
I've gotten the blender down recently and i'm starting to experiment with fruit smoothie type things.

The spaghetti thing is a good idea too. I'll definitely give that a go. I'd probably have to add meat to it but that's ok.

The bake thing is also a good idea. I used to make a pasta and broccolli bake and it wasn't too bad. But brocolli is really strong tasting and it tends to over power the sauce. I need a way to tone down the flavour but with something healthy.

The reason i like aubergines is because they aren't as strong tasting as cucumber, which i think is disgusting.

The soup idea is a good one. I had a really nice potatoe and vegetable soup, with cheese and served in a bread bowl. The bread bowl was basically a large bread bun hollowed out and the soup poured in, so you could eat the bread when you'd finished the soup. Great idea.

The curry idea is a great one. I could throw anything into a curry and not know what was in it. I've eaten plenty like that already.

Ok, i've got some great ideas now.

Cheers for those.

Keep them coming.

Killian

Fabritzo · 27-08-2004 12:47AM

I find a good sticky BBQ sauce does the trick, on a side note the more colour a veg. has the better it is for ya, so if you're going to eat them, eat the coloured ones. Also try not cooking them too much, they lose the goodness. No one likes broccoli.

TheStrandRoads · 27-08-2004 12:49AM

Yeah, you never ate them peas, ye fu*cker!

Left them on yer plate.

I had to try and explain that to me ma.

K!LL!@N · 27-08-2004 12:50AM

Fabritzo wrote:

No one likes broccoli.

No, it's brussel sprouts that no one likes. :eek:

Killian

munkeehaven · 27-08-2004 12:51AM

another idea just popped into my head..you could try making veggies burgers, not like the mank ones in super macs..i tried making ones before with carrots and potatoes but they were a bit sweet, i guess its all down to experimenting...but you'll need to add potatoes to help the burger stick together, you could use flour instead but then it ends up really slimy.....they are nice when they are kinda crispy on the outside and soft in the midddle..i tried this and it came out quite nice=onions,broccoli,potato,carrots and cheese ..with a teeny weeny bit of flour added to make it rollable into a burger shape....and its a nice meal with chicken...

ooh one time i was in a restaraunt somewhere in mayo and i had this really cool dish, it was a crumbed chicken breast with a banana in the middle! it was really nice and was served with a lovely curry sauce...i want to try and replicate it but how do you get a banana into a breast of chicken?!)do you put it in when its raw or what?)

K!LL!@N · 27-08-2004 12:51AM

TheStrandRoads wrote:

Yeah, you never ate them peas, ye fu*cker!

Left them on yer plate.

I had to try and explain that to me ma.

Your ma wasn't even there, it was your sister made your dinner that day.

Killian

K!LL!@N · 27-08-2004 12:55AM

munkeehaven wrote:

another idea just popped into my head..you could try making veggies burgers, not like the mank ones in super macs..i tried making ones before with carrots and potatoes but they were a bit sweet, i guess its all down to experimenting...but you'll need to add potatoes to help the burger stick together, you could use flour iinstead but then it ends up really slimy.....they are nice when they are kinda crispy on the outside and soft in the midddle..i tried this and it came out quite nice=onions,broccoli,potato,carrots and cheese ..with a teeny weeny bit of flour added to make it rollable into a burger shape....and its a nice meal with chicken

ooh one time i was in a restaraunt somewhere in mayp and i had this really cool dish, it was a crunbed chicken breast with a banana in the middle! it was really nice and was served with a lovley curry sauce...i want to try and replicate it but how do you get a banana into a breast of chicken?!)do you put it in when its raw or what?)

Ah excellent.
I'll just make potatoe cakes with vegetables in them.
I think i'll try putting the veggies in the blender raw or only slightly cooked and add the potatoe and egg etc.
That should get rid of the crunchiness that i hate so much.

This is going great folks.
I was worried people would just laugh at me but getting some great ideas here.

Keep 'em coming.

Killian

steveland? · 27-08-2004 01:49AM

Try getting one of those V-Slicers off the tv3 ads. If you believe the ads you'll have perfect vegetables. You can tell your stomach that theyre "fast food" and maybe fool it into thinkin youre eating something like mcdonalds or the likes.

Anyone guessed yet how much I want one of those V-Slicers?

sceptre · 27-08-2004 01:51AM

K!LL!@N wrote:

I'm looking for tips/tricks/advice on how i can fool my brain into thinking it likes vegetables.

Why?

Seriously.

I like peas. Carrots if they're cooked for me nicely (GF likes carrots). I've had the occasional parsnip two or three times a year, the very occasional fried tomato (not a veg) and sweetcorn out of a can about once a month. When there's curry I'll have some stringy beans in there and it's the only way I'll ever eat broccoli. A nice omlette is nice with peppers and onions (and anything exoptic in the fridge except ice-cream). Other than that veggies are nasty things.

seamus · 27-08-2004 10:39AM

Man, how can you not like vegetables. They rock. Tomatoes are fruit and they ming.

pickarooney · 27-08-2004 10:55AM

Make falafels. Can anyone not like falafels?

If you like aubergines (and to be fair, they are the fruit of the gods, if they don't taste of owt, you're not eating them right!) try making aubergine croquettes - bake in the oven until soft, mash them up with garlic, egg and salt and fry them like burgers.

Fry onions, even if you're not going to eat them, they smell so good that your brain will subconsciously make a link to tasty vegetables.

Stephen · 27-08-2004 10:59AM

I hate most veggies, they just taste poxy to me - yet I enjoy a nice vegetable soup.

All i really eat veg-wise is potatoes, peas and sometimes sweetcorn. I don't mind bits of onion when its mixed in with other stuff like bolognese etc, but on their own they're manky. I eat loads of fruit, love apples/oranges/bananas/pineapples (!) etc.

I don't get carrots, they taste and feel like cardboard.

whosurpaddy · 27-08-2004 11:00AM

SteveD wrote:

Anyone guessed yet how much I want one of those V-Slicers?

i want one so much, its the first gimmicky thing with an infomercial ive actually ever considered buying(it would be "for my ma" of course).

seriously, thick vegetable soups, stir frys, omlettes are the way to go. all beautiful. and did someone say they eat raw cabbage? how does that work?

btw i love broccoli for the guy said no one likes it, maybe im a freak though i like sprouts too.

seamus · 27-08-2004 11:01AM

pickarooney wrote:

Fry onions, even if you're not going to eat them, they smell so good that your brain will subconsciously make a link to tasty vegetables.

Actually, that kind of thing does help. Fry your veg, and use seasoning.

Garlic is good, chinese spices. If you like chinese food, use soy sauce.

Also be aware of the best ways to cook what veg. Onion, peppers (yellow peppers are the nicest ones, then red. Green are horrible), mushrooms, sweetcorn and others fry really well, whereas things like Courgette or Carrots dont, unless you chop them up really small. For crunchy veg like that, your best bet is to boil them until soft, and then fry them.

Make gravy out of the water you used to boil the veg - maximise your nutrients!

pickarooney · 27-08-2004 11:04AM

A courgette is hardly crunchy, they're spongey wee yokes. When frying spongey wee yokes, remember to slice them, lay them on some kitchen paper and salt them so they dry out and fry up nicely.

But anyway, broccoli also rocks, but celery is the worst invention known to man.

Unpossible · 27-08-2004 11:23AM

i want one so much, its the first gimmicky thing with an infomercial ive actually ever considered buying(it would be "for my ma" of course).

I think we have what your talking about (had if for years), you put your spud on a little tray with blades and slide the spude to make chips? It works but we don't really use it.

Peanut · 27-08-2004 11:25AM

K!LL!@N wrote:

...
The thing that puts me off vegetables apart from not liking the taste is the texture. I hate the crunchiness of vegetables and people say they have the most nutrients when they're crunchy because the goodness hasn't been cooked out of them.

I have tried in the past to throw lots of vegetables into a pan and stirfry them in olive oil and soy sauce but i invariably end up dumping loads of salt on them as well to mask the taste.
...

I would try the stir fry again, it's a great way to add fire to veg that lifts it up from your average Irish potato&veg type stodginess.

For any veg with latent crunchiness (eg.carrots) - boil them first (boiling water + few mins in a microwave usually does it).
Like someone else said, use seasoning to enhance the taste, raw garlic & ginger, fresh coriander, chinese 5-spice mix etc. Also cashew nuts are often added to sitr fries &/or sesame seeds.

Most importantly - don't let it look like a soup, make sure the veg is drained enough before adding it in. Make sure to stir while cooking! Don't put everything in at once, add the most delicate veg last and watch how fast the different parts cook. Olive oil is ok but peanut oil or something is probably better for stir fries. Take enough time to cook it.

Don't worry about the nutrients - there will still be more than enough left - the "all the goodness will have been cooked out of them" is an evil ploy to get people to eat less veg!!!

When almost done, add in pre-cooked noodles, mix around and cook for a short while longer.

Don't use any salt - Use just soy sauce & mostly for garnishing AFTER the dish is cooked. You get more of the flavour of it this way. Use some decent soy/shoyu/teriyaki sauce like Kikkoman or Meridian. Optionally add toasted sesame oil drizzled lightly over the dish. Leave it to sit for a couple of mins before eating.

stevenmu · 27-08-2004 03:26PM

You should try out vegtable tempura. It's basically thin slices of vegtables battered and deep fried. It's a particular type of batter made a particular way that's much healthier than the normal deep fried stuff everyone loves, you can use pretty much any vegtable that's solid enough to slice (SteveD could even use his v-slicer) just dip it in the batter and throw it in the frier for a minute or two. The veg goes a bit soft but keeps all it's flavour and goodness, plus you have crispy batter too. Nice with a bit of soy saue to dip in. There's hundreds of recipes for the tempura batter if you google or most of those shops that do speciality ethnic foods (asian ones) should have it. Yamamoris on George St does it really well too if you're ever in there

K!LL!@N · 27-08-2004 03:32PM

Yeah i've had tempura before, mostly shrimp tempura but yeah i know what the batter is like, it's really nice.
I've been to yamamori, but again never had the veggie tempura there.
I'll add it to my list of things to try.

I don't want to be deep frying lots of stuff, but i guess it wouldn't hurt occasionally.

Killian

KdjaCL · 27-08-2004 03:54PM

I blame your parents , all veggies are gorgeous, God i could eat a plate of just veggies for dinner.

Umm maybe you could try steaming them? Or covering them with sauce.

kdjac

jor el · 27-08-2004 04:04PM

I don't eat any veg except if I'm really drunk and can't see or taste what I'm eating, ande even then it's only be a slice of lettuce on a burger or something. Some vegtables turn my stomach so I just don't bother with them.
I guess some people jsut don't like certain foods. Some vegatarians don't eat meat because they don't like the taste, I don't eat veggies because I don't like the taste. What's the point in trying to disguise them if you don't want them. You can get all the vitamins you need from a tablet and a glass of OJ in the morning anyway

K!LL!@N · 27-08-2004 04:38PM

KdjaC wrote:

I blame your parents , all veggies are gorgeous, God i could eat a plate of just veggies for dinner.

Umm maybe you could try steaming them? Or covering them with sauce.

kdjac

Can't really blame the parents on this one.
They both eat veggies and so does my bro.
I used to eat them when i was younger and didn't really have a say in what i ate.
But not any more.

Killian

Raskolnikov · 27-08-2004 04:53PM

I'm the same way, I have to force myself to eat vegtables but rather than go preparing them and cooking them, I just chow down on a raw carrot and/or cabbage. Combine this with about two peices of fruit a day and you should be getting all the nutrional value you should need from fruit and veg. The slight unpleasantness is more than worth it when Winter comes, you should be able to avoid most of the flu/cold's that people get so often.

You could try putting a bit of colesaw in your sandwiches, peas with your chips when at the chipper, etc. It all helps.

K!LL!@N · 27-08-2004 04:57PM

Raskolnikov wrote:

I'm the same way, I have to force myself to eat vegtables but rather than go preparing them and cooking them, I just chow down on a raw carrot and/or cabbage. Combine this with about two peices of fruit a day and you should be getting all the nutrional value you should need from fruit and veg. The slight unpleasantness is more than worth it when Winter comes, you should be able to avoid most of the flu/cold's that people get so often.

You could try putting a bit of colesaw in your sandwiches, peas with your chips when at the chipper, etc. It all helps.

I couldn't eat any vegetable raw.
Just couldn't do it.
So my only option is to disguise them.
I'm trying to eat more veg to replace other junk.
I'm not a fan of mushy peas but i can eay them in a stirfry or fried rice.

I've got lots of fruit at the moment.
I'm trying to vary it a little because in the past i'd go crazy eating say apples, then i'd be sick of them after a week or so.
Then i wouldn't eat any for ages.

Killian

stevenmu · 27-08-2004 04:58PM

K!LL!@N wrote:

Yeah i've had tempura before, mostly shrimp tempura but yeah i know what the batter is like, it's really nice.
I've been to yamamori, but again never had the veggie tempura there.
I'll add it to my list of things to try.

I don't want to be deep frying lots of stuff, but i guess it wouldn't hurt occasionally.

Killian

Yeah, it's not something you'd eat everyday but it's a lot healthier than normal deep-fry and a nice bit of variety from just boiled or stir fried stuff. I found it much nicer than the shrimp tempura, I've had both in a few places and yamamoris was easily the best.

Blisterman · 27-08-2004 05:46PM

I hate vegetables too and refuse to eat them. Can you just eat fruit instead? It's that the same goodness for you?

K!LL!@N · 27-08-2004 05:51PM

I don't think i could eat just fruit for dinner.
I'm mostly talking about dinner here.
I can eat fruit during the day or whatever.
But i'd like to be able to eat veggies for dinner.

Killian

Vegetables and me - a hate/hate relationship

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