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Survey: What Vegetable Do You Fear?

In the comments on Emma's post about New Year's food resolutions, many people wrote that they vowed to eat more vegetables. We're with you, and we try to promote some that get less attention, like beets, brussels sprouts, and kale. But we'd like to know which vegetables you're avoiding because you're not confident about how to prepare them.

 
 

We love almost all vegetables, but we still get in a rut of eating the same ones over and over. As we approach a month of eating light, we'd like to inspire you to tackle some unfamiliar vegetables.

One man's parsnip is another's kohlrabi, so let us know what you need.

Related: Strange New Vegetable: Yacon

(Images: Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan; Flickr members ex.libris and Darwin Bell, licensed under Creative Commons)

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Surveys, Health, Ingredients - Vegetables, cooking fears

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Comments (29)

Mushrooms!
I've never been a big fan of them, so I never really learned the techniques as I was learning to cook. Now, they seem like such an integral part of so many cuisines, and there are so many different types, but I'm scared to try to cook them.
All the debate (to wash them or not to wash them / Harold of Top chef serving grainy mushrooms on his final meal) makes it even worse...

posted by fib on January 7th 2009 at 4:21pm
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I love all vegetables. I do, however, have an aversion to certain preparation methods... I have zero tolerance for any that are over cooked. Soggy cabbage is the first *ick* that comes to mind…

posted by VeryDelishVeg on January 7th 2009 at 4:35pm
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I would love to learn to cook and eat a fresh artichoke - we only ever buy canned.

posted by Sisero on January 7th 2009 at 4:42pm
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I picked eggplant not because I hate it. I just find it to be the "most tedious" to cook with besides making baba ghanoush, grilled eggplants, or ratatouille. I am pretty sure there are awesome recipes out there, but I just haven't encountered any. Please let me know your favorite eggplant recipes! Thank you!

posted by reggiesoang on January 7th 2009 at 4:48pm
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Kohlrabi. What's the point?

posted by Palmetto on January 7th 2009 at 5:16pm
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Turnips and rutabaga - I'm never sure which one I've bought, and how long they take to cook. But I love the turnip pieces in my mom's minestrone soup recipe, so there must be some other ways to make them tasty!

posted by SisterRae on January 7th 2009 at 5:32pm
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Radishes. They make my "eating organs" convulse a little.

posted by OneWallKitchen on January 7th 2009 at 5:37pm
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okra

posted by ravennagirl on January 7th 2009 at 5:37pm
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fib: you really only have to worry about sandy mushrooms if you're using wild. i believe harold was using chanterelles which are always covered in pine needles and dirt.

you shouldn't wash mushrooms ever. damp paper towel is fine for most cultivated mushrooms. if you get some wild ones: chanterelles, oysters, hen of the woods or morels, you need to use a pastry brush to remove all the debris.

morels are nearly impossible to get clean, but the flavor more than makes up for a little grit.

posted by saltyc on January 7th 2009 at 7:06pm
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I love anything except peas, but I'm with reggieoang on the eggplant thing. too much work to get to the yum

posted by splatgirl on January 7th 2009 at 7:10pm
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artichokes. sooooo scary.

posted by laura sue on January 7th 2009 at 7:42pm
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Reggieoang and Splatgirl I think eggplant parmesan is really yummy. However, I guess some of the taste of the eggplant gets lost in the other ingredients, but it's my favorite eggplant dish. Turnips on the other hand are a complete mystery to me.

posted by vinylcollectors on January 7th 2009 at 7:43pm
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Okra! why is this food, I wonder... is there any way to cook it that it is something yummy instead of nasty slug slime

posted by fjorlief on January 7th 2009 at 8:05pm
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lima beans...and you can't make me.

posted by miabica on January 7th 2009 at 8:39pm
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Mushrooms, but I'm working on it.

posted by brittanykate on January 7th 2009 at 11:19pm
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Broccoli Rabe - Bitter and unpleasant

posted by jmatheson on January 8th 2009 at 6:21am
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On my list of foods to try this winter are beets, bok choy, brussel sprouts, and pears. I have recipes bookmarked for all but the pears, which I plan to just try eating plain. I'm really not a big fruit person.

posted by kls987 on January 8th 2009 at 9:43am
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mushrooms!

posted by leely16 on January 8th 2009 at 1:09pm
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Oh, I'm so glad to see others feel the same way: MUSHROOMS!!

Ever since I learned -- at the tender age of five -- that some mushrooms are poisonous, I hate them, no matter where they're sold or served. Ick.

Add artichokes and poorly cooked eggplant to my list, too, please.

posted by SuSi Tucker on January 8th 2009 at 2:39pm
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Bitter melon skeeves me out. I know it's good for you, but both times I made it, I really hated it. It's an acquired taste, I guess.

posted by Minerva of the Airship on January 8th 2009 at 3:57pm
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I fear no vegetable. Used to be afraid of butternuts, until I bought a big cleaver. Used to be afraid of eggplant, until I realized they're not as hard as butternuts.

reggie: what's tedious? If you're talking about salting and stuff, just buy Asian eggplants... never had a bitter or badly textured one, and most don't need peeling. My favorite recipe, serves 2: Cube 1 small European eggplant or 1 long Asian one. Saute eggplant cubes in plenty of olive oil with a sliced red bell pepper and about half a chopped onion, and a little basil if you've got it. When everything's browned, throw on half a jar of marinara sauce. Boil 8 oz pasta, add a handful of baby spinach as you're draining it, and divide between plates. Top each with the sauce, a dollop of ricotta, a teaspoon of capers and a few kalamata olives. Mmm.

It's animals that freak me out. The bones. The gristle. The tendons. The tripes. The frog legs that jump out of the pan. I do eat meat, but I have no problem eating more veggies.

posted by whytephoenix on January 8th 2009 at 4:36pm
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Celeriac...I have a huge knob of it in the fridge and not sure what to do with it other than a purée or a gratin. For the price, I'd like to use it as a primary ingredient, rather than to back up a pound of potatoes.

posted by cymry on January 8th 2009 at 8:50pm
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Parsnips. My husband hates them and I'm not overly keen myself.

posted by Rain on January 8th 2009 at 11:00pm
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okra. just grosses me out. (the gooo...!!)

But apart from that I don't have enough recipes for each vegetable, although I do have great recipes for most of the vegetables that people have mentioned...

For example:

-celeriac -- here in Europe, it is commonly eaten as a cold salad, grated and combined with a tangy mayo-type dressing (and I hate mayo dressings!), delicious and quick!

-parsnips -- roasted with parmesan; as a cheddar-parsnip soup (my husband's favourite soup of all-time); and as the secret must-have ingredient to my chicken soup (tastes wrong without it) -- http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/susans-chicken-soup

- Rapini -- my favourite vegetable! (very hard to find in Switzerland). Sautéed with garlic and salt, add ricotta and a little water, toss with pasta and top with parmesan

Eggplant -- Szechuan eggplant, with onion, minced pork, garlic black bean sauce, some cayenne, soy...

And I make an amazing mushroom-onion-vinegar-cheddar-egg pasta sauce that everyone loves, even mushroom haters. (a variation of something in The Vegetarian Epicure)

posted by mschatelaine on January 9th 2009 at 9:28am
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Kohlrabi. What the heck do you do with this weird vegetable from outer space?

posted by matchbookhymnal on January 9th 2009 at 11:35am
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I love most of those vegetables, though fail to see the point of turnips (uninteresting texturally, very bitter, not even that much nutritional value, comparatively). I wanted to address the "don't wash mushrooms" myth. Go ahead, wash them. Okay, maybe don't if you're slicing them raw into a salad, because the water can make the outside just a little slimey. But generally, I cook my mushrooms, and I spent years wiping each one just so. Good old Alton Brown then did a show where he washed mushrooms, weighing them before and after to determine if they really did absorb water, as usually claimed. Verdict: not unless you actually soaked them, and not even that much then. Not enough to affect the final dish, certainly. Mushrooms are mostly water anyway, any tiny excess will cook away with the naturally-occurring water.

I cook with mushrooms at least once a week, so knowing this has saved me a ton of time, and I'm certain I've never noticed a difference.

posted by pyewacket on January 9th 2009 at 1:03pm
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Okra is the best! I love it in shrimp creole, jambalaya, those sort of cajun dishes. You can't beat fried okra...but I never make that myself b/c it stinks up your house! (Can you tell I'm a southerner!?!)

posted by kmta on January 9th 2009 at 9:15pm
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Beets- I don't want to deal with beet stains, ever.

posted by LizO on January 10th 2009 at 11:32pm
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I don't have aversions to any veggies, really. I love them all.

My favorite way to eat fresh artichoke is to steam them, dip the leaves in a garlic aioli and scrape the meat off with your teeth.

posted by fade on violet on January 13th 2009 at 2:02pm
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