# Am I the only one who likes the taste of vegetables? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 13, 2011, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-likes-the-taste-of-vegetables/602758 "2011-11-13T02:55:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Untoward\_Parable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/51bf81/32.png) [@Untoward\_Parable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Untoward_Parable)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2011, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-likes-the-taste-of-vegetables/602758/21 "2011-11-13T09:00:56Z")
I like veggies fine, any kind. It’s just that i like a lot of other things more. Mostly things full of salt fat and sugar which veggies lack in triplicate. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2011, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-likes-the-taste-of-vegetables/602758/22 "2011-11-13T09:20:07Z")
> [@Bootis](#): > > Disguises? You mean the fundamental essence of “cuisine” itself? > > Plain veggies alone are great sometimes, sure, but wonderful recipes combined with good skilled cooking is one the greatest things mankind has done for itself. I wouldn’t call the frozen food/microwave aisle with its ubiquitous “cheese” sauces and heavily salt/MSG laden flavorings “cuisine”… ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2011, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-likes-the-taste-of-vegetables/602758/23 "2011-11-13T12:56:36Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Add bacon. Add garlic. Add lemon. > What’s with the disguises? Yeah, and what’s with this salt and pepper on my steak? Cow is good all by itself, don’t disguise it. :dubious: I love lots of foods plain, but I love them more tarted up a bit. And I like lots more foods plain, but amping up the flavor takes them from like to love. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2011, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-likes-the-taste-of-vegetables/602758/24 "2011-11-13T14:05:16Z")
> [@Bootis](#): > > Disguises? You mean the fundamental essence of “cuisine” itself? “Cuisine is when things taste like what they are.” – Jean Anthelme Brillat‐Savarin (1826) Off the top of my head, I can’t think of a vegetable I genuinely dislike. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2011, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-likes-the-taste-of-vegetables/602758/25 "2011-11-13T17:16:10Z")
turnip greens, broccoli with cheese sauce, peas & carrots, green beans, purple hull peas. I eat a lot of veggies and enjoy them. okra and Brussels sprouts are two I can’t stand. ---
**Author:** ![Bootis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Bootis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootis)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-likes-the-taste-of-vegetables/602758/26 "2011-11-13T18:34:52Z")
> [@jovan](#): > > “Cuisine is when things taste like what they are.” > – Jean Anthelme Brillat‐Savarin (1826) > . But without adding ingredients there would just be one cuisine, no different styles, no harmony of flavors working together to create something greater than the sum of their parts. Again, I like a plain ol’ fresh crunchy vegetable just fine. I like a good violin solo too, but yadda yadda, insert standard symphony/food metaphor here, etc. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-likes-the-taste-of-vegetables/602758/27 "2011-11-13T18:41:23Z")
I like almost all vegetables, and I like both raw\* and cooked veggies. I’m not a huge fan of grilled veggies, and I don’t like some veggies prepared certain ways (I like pickled or fried okra, for example, but not boiled/steamed). I don’t like beets–are they a vegetable? I love lima beans with butter and salt. I usually buy frozen vegetables for a few reasons. First, they’re often cheaper. Second, I’ve heard that they’re picked and frozen pretty quickly, so they don’t sit around as long after being harvested as “fresh” vegetables do. Third, they won’t go bad on me at home if I don’t use them right away. I usually steam veggies if I’m having them plain (that is, if they’re not part of a recipe for something else) and while salt is the most common thing I put on them, I often like to try dusting them with various ground herbs such as sage, savory, bay leaf, or thyme (yes, I have all of these in the powdered, ground form. It’s nice when you want the flavor but don’t want little dried leaves in your food, texture-wise). Some veggies I’ll make a sauce for on special occasions, like a cheese sauce or a hollandaise sauce, but it’s not to “hide” the taste of the vegetables, it’s to add to it and make it into something else. \*ETA: except when they’re too crunchy. I have sensitive teeth and can’t eat some things, like for example, carrots, unless they’ve been cut into thinner pieces, because it hurts too much to bite through a whole one. ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2011, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-likes-the-taste-of-vegetables/602758/28 "2011-11-13T19:06:29Z")
Yes, Frank. You’re the only one. Everybody else gags them down. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2011, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-likes-the-taste-of-vegetables/602758/29 "2011-11-13T19:12:18Z")
I thought you were but reading here maybe you are not. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-likes-the-taste-of-vegetables/602758/30 "2011-11-13T19:59:51Z")
I don’t like bitter salad greens very much, dislike radishes, and do not understand why so many people love squash when it’s so bland, but I like pretty much every other vegetable I can think of, especially the various cruciferous vegetables. I _ **love** _ cabbage and broccoli. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-likes-the-taste-of-vegetables/602758/31 "2011-11-13T20:37:08Z")
Brocolli in any kind of sauce. With Chinese food? Awesome. Alfredo sauce? Awesome. With cheese sauce, and on and on. Never a big fan of green beans, but Marie Calendar taught me that if you throw some pieces of cranberry in them, it really makes them pop. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2011, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-likes-the-taste-of-vegetables/602758/32 "2011-11-13T21:11:30Z")
No, but I think the number of people who actually like plain lima beans is pretty small. I’m not surprised to see one on the Dope, but I would be surprised to meet them in real life. Even my grandmother, who said she liked lima beans, had to do a ton of stuff to them. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2011, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-likes-the-taste-of-vegetables/602758/33 "2011-11-13T21:29:52Z")
Really? Lima beans are among my favorites and my husband and son are always very happy when we have them. All I put on them is salt and butter. I see them get eaten pretty unanimously at my husband’s family holiday gatherings (usually 25-30 people). I don’t think liking lima beans is very rare. Hmmm… maybe a poll is in order. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2011, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-likes-the-taste-of-vegetables/602758/34 "2011-11-13T21:33:21Z")
[Lima beans poll.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=631298) ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2011, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-likes-the-taste-of-vegetables/602758/35 "2011-11-13T22:28:05Z")
To me, many, if not most, vegetables have been an acquired taste. Luckily I have acquired a liking for most of them, but I can understand how others may not care for them. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2011, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-likes-the-taste-of-vegetables/602758/36 "2011-11-13T23:31:57Z")
The only veggies I don’t like are turnips and parsnips. Other than these two, I could probably graze on veggies and nothing else all day. And they don’t need to be disguised. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2011, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-likes-the-taste-of-vegetables/602758/37 "2011-11-13T23:33:48Z")
Anyone else ever eat a tomato like it’s an apple? I used to do that with those roma/plum tomatos all the time. (Of course, my dad always got pissed at me, because they’re really expensive) ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2011, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-likes-the-taste-of-vegetables/602758/38 "2011-11-13T23:52:28Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Add bacon. Add garlic. Add lemon. > > Baby lima beans. Baby peas. > > Microwave packages of frozen vegetables with what Birds-Eye claims is butter and spices. > > Lima beans taste good. Green beans taste good. Spinach tastes good. And so on. All by themselves. > > What’s with the disguises? Same thing could be said of pretty much all food, and in the end, the only category of food that is the least-often and the least-aggressively “disguised” is fruit. But meat, poultry, fish, and vegetables are all “disguised” with all kinds of things all the time. Why have a hamburger with vegetables (lettuce, onion, tomato) pickled vegetables (pickles) and sauces (mayo, mustard, ketchup) on it? Why not just the burger by itself? Basic unaltered foods: good Foods combined, spiced and sauced: better ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2011, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-likes-the-taste-of-vegetables/602758/39 "2011-11-13T23:59:51Z")
> [@Bootis](#): > > But without adding ingredients there would just be one cuisine, no different styles, no harmony of flavors working together to create something greater than the sum of their parts. Again, I like a plain ol’ fresh crunchy vegetable just fine. I like a good violin solo too, but yadda yadda, insert standard symphony/food metaphor here, etc. Yes, but I was replying to the notion that disguise is the essence of cuisine. I think there are two major trends in cuisine. One is about seeking new tastes through novel combinations. The other is about finding ways to maximize the existing flavours of your ingredients. In most case, the two trends meet, but I think most cuisines tend to lean towards one or the other. Related to this, I once went to a tiny hole in the wall restaurant that specialized in vegetables. Not vegetable dishes, just vegetables. The owner/chef grew all his own vegetables and served almost all of them uncooked, with no seasoning other than salt. In his own words, he spent a lot of effort growing the best possible vegetables, and since this is already the best and tastiest turnip ever, why would he spoil it by adding anything to it? Now, in all honesty, I thought that was a little extreme, although the turnip was indeed outstanding just like this. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-likes-the-taste-of-vegetables/602758/40 "2011-11-14T00:22:16Z")
I like veggies plain, too. I don’t buy the frozen ones with the cream sauce and stuff. It’s nasty IMHO. A cookbook with some terrific, simple veggie cooking methods is _Nourishing Traditions_ by Sally Fallon. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-likes-the-taste-of-vegetables/602758.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-likes-the-taste-of-vegetables/602758.md?page=3)