Like the subject says, I’m not a vegetable person. I like potatos. And Corn. And that’s about it. So suggest me something for people who don’t like vegetables. I’m curious and a man does not survive by potatos alone.
Do you like onions and bell peppers? There’s nothing as good as diced onions and red or green peppers sauteed or grilled or fried with sliced steak or chicken for fajitas, or spicy sausages, or chili, or shish kebabs. And of course there are onion rings… mmmm… and peppers stuffed with ground beef and rice and spices and topped with tomato sauce… mmmmm…
Personally, I love spinach in just about anything. Spinach salads are a great and healthy alternative to regular garden salads, and spinach is great chopped and sauteed with shrimp or scallops and then tossed with pasta. I even like cream of spinach soup!
And broccoli is great too. If you’re just trying it, I recommend steamed broccoli with a little salt and butter or cheese sauce (au gratin), or raw broccoli (washed, of course), dipped into bleu cheese or ranch dressing. Crunchy raw celery and carrot sticks are also great with bleu cheese or ranch.
A few things:
Try some raw vegetables. Baby carrots, sugar snap peas, sweet peppers, etc. Add some kind of dip if you want.
Also, don’t just think about adding a pile of some single vegetable to your plate. Consider soups, stews, curries, stir fries, etc.
Finally, experiment with different sorts of recipes for the same vegetable. If you don’t like plain, cooked cabbage, maybe you’ll like it as cole slaw next to your barbecued chicken, or stuffed with seasoned meat in a nice tomato sauce, or stirfried with a bunch of other stuff to make mu shu pork, etc.
It’s hard to not like all veggies, since different veggies taste different. So this thread is probably going to turn into a list of various folks’ favorite vegetables.
My first recommendation is going to be tomatoes. Unfortuneately, unless Dr. Caligari’s Cabinet is further south than most of the US, you can’t get any real tomatoes this time of year. Ignore those round red squishy things in the grocery store; those aren’t tomatoes. Real tomatoes are vine-ripened and come from a garden; if you don’t have any friends who garden, then try a farmer’s market or organic food co-op.
Mushrooms, chilli peppers, aubergenes, asparagus, sugar snap peas, refried beans, onions. All help fill my vegitable quotent.
I don’t like veggies either. Deep frying them or adding a thick layer of cheese sauce seems to do the trick.
What’s wrong with a diet of meat, potatoes, corn and vitamin supplements, anyway?
After cutting off the hard part of the stem, break up cauliflower in bite-sized pieces. Marinate in a dressing made of equal parts olive oil and cider vinegar. Add salt and pepper. Yummmmm.
Cool, good thread so far. Thanks guys. Bit more information: Tomatos, no. Tomato sauce is fine, but the slimy wetness of tomatos makes me gag. I don’t like peppers, there’s just something about them.
Devil’s Grandmother-I dunno. Sometimes the nagging voice in my head tells me I need to diversify.
I’m not a big fan of most vegetables, but I loooooove canned asparagus. It’s soft, almost drinkable, unlike the raw and roasted stuff, which is like eating a stick. Get Jolly Green Giant in the full stalks, not the chopped bits (ew). I’m also starting to eat broccoli, as long as it is tender.
Other veggies: onions, green peppers, corn, and potatoes. I also like lettuce and celery, but only a little at a time (unless it’s a caesar salad!).
Count me as another vegetable-not-liker. I am not an adventurous (sp?) eater, so I applaud your efforts to diversify. I find that it is easier to get my veggies in casseroles and things like that. I need the veggies broken up with meat and sauces. Have you seen those “skillet” meals in the freezer section? They have the non-threatening bits of the popular veggies mixed and seasoned and you add meat. I just ate at a friends house and she added peas to her tuna noodle casserole. Kinda neat idea. I think peas could be added to a lot of dishes.
And to agree with another poster, grocery store veggies (and fruits) are generally lousy. If you have a specialty grocery store in your area, you might find better stuff. Also farmer’s markets. There really is a difference in the taste.
Just to demonstrate how big the gaps between veggies and their eaters are, I was completely repulsed by the first two paragraphs of Big Bad Voodoo Lou’s suggestions. All of those vegetables are completely… icky. 
The last paragraph made up for it, though!
Well, I make a sweet-potato pie that tastes like candy.
Just let me know if you would like me to post the recipie. 
GMRyujin, I am right there with you.
There is one thing my old roommate showed me though, that is very simple and pretty good. Dump some Italian bread crumbs in a bowl with a little parmesan cheese. Cut the top parts off of some broccoli. My roommate didn’t care, but to me the recipe turns out much better if you can cut off the pieces fairly small. Spray them with a little bit of olive oil, roll them around good in the bowl of crumbs, lay them out on a pan, and stick them in the oven for a few minutes. I can’t remember offhand the exact temp/time, but it’s around 350-400 or so, and just keep an eye on them to turn brown. You could probably get more creative with the spices, too. I just like mine plain, though.
Do you have a Schlotzky’s nearby? They have started using spinach on their sandwiches instead of lettuce, and it’s actually pretty good. You can’t really taste it. (Aren’t you in Atlanta? I usually go to the one at Northlake)
My very most hated vegetable is probably green beans. But, I went to a dinner party a while back where green beans were served. I felt like I had to at least try them, and to my surprise, they weren’t too bad. They were cooked with what tasted like lemon and a bit of sugar. Does anyone know what I am talking about and have a recipe to share?
The South Beach Diet (is that what it’s called?) has a good one - tastes a lot like mashed potatoes:
microwave a fresh, chopped cauliflower. Put it in cuisinart with low fat milk and some margarine, same amounts as with mashed potatoes, and puree it.
Some people in my family cannot stand many different typed of vegetables, besides potatoes. I find cooking vegetables as opposed to eating them raw, is the best way to get them to eat them. And cutting veggies very small, like in spaghetti sauces and the like, is a good way to get the portions in.
Phytonutrients. Theres bunches of stuff in veggies that’s good for you that we haven’t identified yet.
Uh huh. “Phytonutrients.” Riiiiiiight. “We haven’t identified 'em, but we’re sure they’re in there, honest!”
Hmph. Sounds more like some “scientists,” who were cowed into believing the myth that veggies are good for you when they were children, are now grasping at straws to come up with excuses to still be able to claim that eating vegetables is better for you than eating real food and taking vitamin supplements.
Ladies and gentlemen, you’re being lied to by a bunch of pansies who never had the courage to cut their mothers’ apron strings. The only reason vegetables have gained the reputation of being “good for you” is that back in the old days, before we found out about things like vitamin C, people who didn’t eat vegetables got vitamin-deficiency diseases like scurvy. In this modern day and age of vitamin supplements, there’s no reason to put yourself through the agony and anguish of eating (yicch!) vegetables any longer!
Stand up for your right to Vegetable-Free Living!
Vegetables have vitamins that you can’t get from meat and potatoes. Scientists are still discovering benefits from eating vegetables, like anti-cancer agents in tomatoes and cabbage-family veggies. There’s also fiber.
Many people when they were young were turned off to vegetables because they were given only canned or frozen produce. Some veggies freeze well (e.g. peas), but most don’t. Also, badly-cooked veggies are awful - many people overcook their plants.
Some veggies are easier to like than others. Many people hate spinach (doesn’t ya want to grow up strong like your uncle Popeye?). Brussels sprouts are widely hated. Okra is another that many people dislike. If you’re squeamish about veggies, try to stick to ones that have wide appeal, like peas, carrots and broccoli (unless your name is Bush).
Many veggies are bland when cooked alone. Plain boiled or steamed anything is usually terrible. Garlic, onions and ginger do wonders to perk up the flavor. So does tomato sauce, where appropriate (I would put it on broccoli, for example). Don’t be afraid to use high heat - browning adds flavor to summer squash, for example. Hot chilies work well with many veggies, if you like spiciness.
If you’re a meat-and-potatoes eater, try putting some veggies in your stews. Root vegetables like carrots, turnips, rutabagas and parsnips work well. Cut them into bite-sized chunks and add them about an hour before the stew is finished (veggies take much less time to cook than stew meat does).
It’s not the right season (unless you’re south of the border), but some veggies can be grilled on a barbeque. Summer squash and eggplant work well for this. Cut into slices, brush with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and put them over the coals. They’re done when they start to turn soft, at which point you can remove them from the grill and grind some black pepper over them.
Did we have the same mother?
I hated vegetables…although to mom’s credit, the rule was try it before you said no. All of us boys said no.
Probably because it was all from a can, smothered in butter…but that was years ago. and that is how they made them then.
Some vegetablea from a can aren’t all that bad, frozen is better, fresh is best.
Preparation is the key. There are lots of ways to introduce yourself to the joy of vegetables…one of which is to add melted cheese, or mix some vegetables in with foods you like.
As you get used to the taste, you might start to like them just steamed, or maybe with a little butter in a pan, lightly sauteed.
Like all foods, it takes some getting used to.
But despite my mother’s bad cooking with vegetables, I still hark back to her adage…try it before you say no.
Yeah, potatoes and corn pretty much sums it up for me as far as vegetables go. I have found a couple ones here in Japan, though, that depending on availability you might give a shot : fresh (not canned) bamboo shoots (take no ko) and Chinese cabbage (hakusai). Chinese cabbage is especially good as kimchi. I guess I like it because it’s got a good texture, and not so much flavor.