Need Help with Vegetables- A Picky Eater

[rhiannon.gale]

Hello all!

This is really embarrasing, but I can't be the only one. Vegetables kind of scare me. Let me give you some back story.

 

Both of my parents are extremely picky eaters. They think they aren't, but if you mention something like strawberries or cabbage, it is an automatic "EW that's so nasty! I would never eat that!" Seriously. And they wonder why my brother and I don't have wider taste preferences. So, having only grown up with bananas, apples, green beans, corn, and potatoes, I'm new the whole vegetable thing. And it really scares me sometimes.

 

I know that you are supposed to eat A LOT of vegetables on the Whole 30, and to get the best results possible and to do what's best for my body, I'd really like to branch out. In my adult life (currently 23) I have tried new fruits and vegetable in an attempt to broaden my tastes. This has been somewhat successful. However, I still need a little help. If anything, sneaking in vegetables would be helpful. I can eat nearly anything in a soup, and try to add things in there. I also have heard that you shouldn't give up on something until you find the right recipe. So please help! =)

 

To give you an idea of what I'm working with, I'll share my likes, dislikes, and unknowns.

 

Likes- Lettuce, Tomato, Cucumbers, Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Green Beans, Corn, Beans (I know, not compliant, but otherwise, I love them), radishes, carrots, and still working on onions.

 

Definite dislikes- Mushrooms, Broccoli in most cases, Bell Peppers in most cases, wilted anything (ie: spinach), raw celery

 

Unknown- Cabbage, brussel sprouts, beets, rhubarb, eggplant, cauliflower, turnip, collard greens, asparagus, artichoke,

,

I've been experimenting with zucchini and squash lately. Not sure about them.

 

Anyway, thank you for letting me share and for anything you can help me with. Maybe some awesome recipes, or words of encouragement? I really want to expand my horizons! It's just a little scary!

[jmcbn]

First off, in spite of what you might think corn is a grain, not a vegetable, and therefore it is out during your Whole30.

Now that we've got that out of the way I'd say it is probably a lot to do with the way the vegetables you have eaten have been cooked more than the vegetables themselves that makes you think you don't like them.

Try roasting a batch of veg in your oven - get a large oven tray & chop up sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, parsnip & beets (sprouts, cauliflower & turnip also taste great this way - and you can add in some diced bacon too). Sprinkle with salt, pepper & whatever other spices you fancy (I like turmeric, garam masala, ginger, & cinnamon), add some cooking oil of your choosing (or a combo if you like - I use a mix of coconut oil & ghee), give everything a stir round so it's all nice & coated in oils & spices and cook for about 60mins @ 400.

Everyone raves about this recipe for Velvety Butternut Squash, so that might be worth a go..... and as you said yourself soups are one of the easiest ways to sneak veggies in - I tend to make my soups up as I go along, so don't have any specific recipes to suggest but I'm sure others will help here.

As for salads sometimes adding some berries into the mix, along with a good dressing, can really bring out the flavour of what might otherwise be a bland dish. Strawberries with kale, apple with beetroot & rocket.... there are all kinds of combinations for you to try.

The point is that there are loads of way to cook/serve veggies so that they taste GOOD - you CAN do this, and I think you'll learn that you like A LOT more than you think.....

You got this!
 

[MeGA"gardener"]

Hi Rhiannon.gale

Sounds like you'll be fine Good suggestions Jmcbn

Try a few new vegs each week

Greens are important too frozen or fresh

Frozen chopped spinach can be made into a spinach "muffin" recipe with eggs

Roast radishes and root vegs you'll be pleasantly surprised

Potato salad green beans olive oil oregano red onion garlic serve warm olive oil vinegar

Potato salad boiled eggs compliant mayo s p

Onion celery

if you like quick cook veggies you can always try a sesame oil or compliant oil with garlic

Ginger carrots broccoli cabbage or Bol Choy with snap peas onion But you said you don't like a few or wilted anything so sub it out

So much to explore!

[Tom Denham]

Beans are not only not allowed during a Whole30, but they are not a vegetable. Bush's Beans have been lying in television commercials and saying beans are vegetables, but television lies don't transform legumes into veggies.

 

My signature approach to cooking is skillet roasting. All vegetables taste good when roasted with chicken thighs, lamb, or any kind of fatty meat. Here is a sample recipe: http://www.wholelifeeating.com/2012/02/skillet-roasted-chicken-thighs-white-beets-carrots-and-kale/

[rhed]

I also recommend not giving up on a veggie if you don't like it prepared one way. A steamed veg tastes different from a roasted veg.

 

I found that golden beets, when roasted, taste a lot like corn. So that might be an easy way to introduce yourself to beets.

[amber88]

I've found that most people who don't like vegetables simply have just had them prepared poorly by their parents growing up so they refuse to give them a chance.  Like someone else mentioned, steamed vegetables are very different from roasted or raw veggies. I'm on my second Whole 30, and I have to say that one of my favorite parts about the program is all the new foods it forced me to try.  Here are some of my favorites:

 

Roasted Carrots (or as my friends call them, crack carrots)

(I use tri-colored ones from Trader Joe's)

Fresh minced garlic

Fresh minced rosemary

Extra light tasting olive oil

Cut the carrots into small rounds and toss in garlic, rosemary, olive oil & salt/pepper

Roast on 400 for 30-40 minutes

I serve them with a rosemary aioli dipping sauce (homemade mayo + garlic & rosemary)

 

Roasted Broccoli

Broccoli

Salt

Pepper

Lemon

Extra light tasting olive oil

Toss the broccoli in olive oil, salt, pepper, and lemon juice

Roast on 350 for 30 min or until broccoli is soft but a little crunchy on the outside

 

Zucchini Chips

Zucchini, thinly sliced (as thin as possible)

Extra light tasting olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Lightly toss zucchini sliced in oil, salt and pepper

Spread on baking sheet so none are overlapping

Baked on 400 until crispy

 

Bacon Brussel Sprouts

Bacon (Whole 30 compliant- they sell it at Whole Foods!)

Brussel Sprouts (in bag to steam)

Salt

Pepper

Lemon

Garlic

Cook the bacon, save the grease

Steam Brussel Sprouts in bag according to directions, but cut the cooking time in half

Slice Brussel Sprouts in half, sautee in the bacon fat, salt, pepper and lemon

The flat side should be nice and brown and they should be relatively soft inside

When almost finished, toss with bacon bits 

[SpinSpin]

My husband swears by crispy broccoli and cauliflower-- roast with salt, pepper, thyme and garlic, and this really works best with less oil than more. Roast at 400 or so until crispy-- nearly burned. Nice and crunchy. soo good! 

[misc_tara]

I agree with above posters, roasted veggies is the way to go. Growing up I hated most veggies, especially brussel sprouts and asparagus because pretty much the only way my parents served them was boiled. Now asparagus is one of my fav veggies and I will eat it about any way it's prepared, even raw. It just took having it prepared well a few times for me to acquire a taste for it. 

 

Also, a tip on brussel sprouts, when cooking (roasting/sauteing) they don't smell the best but they still taste good!

[ThyPeace]

Everyone else has covered roasted veggies pretty well, so I'll give you two other suggestions.

 

1.  Grill!  

• This is especially luscious for eggplant.  Slice into 1/2 inch thick slices.  Put olive oil, salt, and pepper on a plate and dip the slices in.  You'll need more olive oil than you think; the eggplant really drinks it.  Then grill it for a long time, until it's very soft.  Delicious!  
• You can also grill veggie kebabs -- try onion, pepper, mushrooms,  and zucchini for a challenge on foods you think you don't like.  Just toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper beforehand, and cook till you start to see grill marks.  
• If you microwave potatoes and beets first, you can do the same thing with them.  Beets are really sweet when cooked over high heat, as they will start to caramelize.  
• Bonus:  Grill pineapple, unpeeled banana sliced lengthways, or fresh peach halves -- spray them all with a bit of oil or butter -- at the same time.  They are utterly luscious.

 

2.  Soup!  

• One of the most mellow, creamy soups in the world is also the easiest to make:  Saute an onion in butter.  Toss in two pounds of frozen cauliflower florets.  Add 1 1/2 quarts of stock (chicken's good).  If you want to be fancy and have a milder flavor, use a leak in addition to the onion.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Boil until the cauliflower is fork-soft, then run the whole thing through a blender.  This is AWESOME.  DH and I use it both by itself and as a replacement when another soup recipe calls for cream.
• Butternut squash soup can also be really easy.  Microwave a butternut squash until it is cooked through.  Meanwhile, sautee a chopped  onion and apple in butter.  Don't bother peeling the apple.  Slice the squash lengthwise and remove the seeds and pulp, then scoop the flesh out and into the soup pot with a spoon.  Add stock to cover the squash and simmer until the squash is smooth.  Put it through a blender to make it creamy.

3.  Curry!

• If you want to change up the flavors, try a curry.  You'll need oil, meat, vegetables, curry paste, coconut milk, and preferably fresh ginger, garlic, and hot pepper.  Saute the meat in oil until it is almost cooked through.  Slide it out into a bowl and in the same pan, saute the vegetables in order from hardest to softest (for example, onion, carrot, broccoli stems (pause), cabbage, mushrooms, bok choi, peppers (pause)).  Slide them out into another bowl.  Add more onion, garlic, grated ginger, chopped hot pepper, and chopped garlic to the pan with oil.  Cook until it starts to smell good.  Add the curry paste and let it get nice and hot.  Then add the coconut milk and mix thoroughly.  Put the meat and vegetables in the pan and let it simmer for a few minutes to finish cooking the meat and to let the flavors mix.  If you're going to add greens or pineapple, add those to the coconut milk mixture raw at the same time as you do the other vegetables.

 

ThyPeace, oops, that was 3.

 

Important edits:  Put oil or butter on the fruit before grilling!  And put the butternut squash through a blender, too.

[dreamweavers3621]

thanks! im writing these ideas down as most of my life was boiled vegs. Im being brave this weekend and trying avacado!

[ThyPeace]

I added a couple of edits to my post:

 

Important edits:  Put oil or butter on the fruit before grilling!  And put the butternut squash through a blender, too.

 

Those are kind of important. Sorry for the omissions!

 

ThyPeace, and this is why professionals test their recipes over and over and over and over and...

[CaGirl]

Try the red / orange / and yellow bell peppers.. They taste nothing like the green ones…

[jmcbn]

I added a couple of edits to my post:

 

Important edits:  Put oil or butter on the fruit before grilling!  And put the butternut squash through a blender, too.

 

Those are kind of important. Sorry for the omissions!

 

ThyPeace, and this is why professionals test their recipes over and over and over and over and...

Clarified obviously!! 

[ThyPeace]

Yup, clarified.  Not that I ever learned to do that, but I will one of these days.

 

ThyPeace, recently learned to make mayo.  Fantastic stuff.

[missmary]

I make this comment often, but nobody has said this on this thread, so I will put it out there one more time: being a picky eater is a choice. Choose not to be picky. Stop telling yourself you are picky. Start being curious about the flavor of vegetables and give yourself a chance to taste them without advance judgment. This is a mental shift and it is so so worth it.

 

Also, keep in mind that your tastes will change as you get older and especially after you have been doing the whole30 for a while. Veggies will start to taste sweeter and more flavorful. Give it time and keep trying them.

[kirkor]

[Bellmaestra]

I grew up loving vegetables, thanks to a dad who had a tendency to undercook fresh vegetables, so they were crisp (especially compared to standard cooking methods in the '60s!) and only drizzled with a little butter, salt and pepper.

But I have to admit, zucchini and summer squash are still not favorites. They are so watery; they really benefit from a good salting. Dice them, slice them, or spiralize them, then salt liberally and let them stand for 20 minutes or so to leach out the liquid. Then rinse well, and squeeze out the excess water with a clean dishtowel. Rinsing is key; otherwise the veg will be inedibly salty. (Ask me how I know this.) You can then use them raw in a salad; you can add canned tuna and kalamata olives for an Italian salad; or lightly saute (really, just warm through) and use in an omelet, with a meat sauce, or with an Asian sauce such as Well-Fed's Sunshine Sauce.

Stephanie