Vegetable Story

Pasta with Zucchini & Mushrooms

Vegetables and I were not always friends.  In fact, until recently we were barely on speaking terms. Even now I would characterize our relationship as being in the casual, “getting to know you” phase.  When I was a kid my favorite vegetable was corn.  Creamed corn; yellow corn; white corn; corn on the cob; baby corn; popcorn - I liked it all.  Peas and I had a love/hate relationship.  Sometimes I would scarf them up like they were little round green candies and other times it was like they were poison pelt balls, to be avoided at all cost.  In general, my philosophy was, if it was green, it should probably be avoided.  As you can probably guess this put a damper on my salad eating, hence my specialty "salads" referred to in my first blog entry, If you are what you eat, I was chicken.  I maintained this boycott of the mean greens pretty much through college.  What can I say?  When I set my mind to do something, I do it - until one day I decided to throw caution to the wind and try broccoli.   

Broccoli was my gateway vegetable.  From that point on I slowly but surely added to my list of "safe" veggies.  Some tries were more successful than others - artichokes, yeah! white asparagus, nah! Some defied the rules of logic - pickles, yeah! cucumbers, nah! Now, before you scroll down to the comments section and inform me that pickles and cucumbers are in fact the same vegetable, let me tell you that while they may be technically the same, the taste and texture are completely different. Baked potatoes and mashed potatoes are basically the same thing, and yet there are folks out there who hate mashed potatoes but love baked potatoes.  The pickle is my baked potato.  But here is the big lesson that I learned while test-driving various vegetables: if I did not like one of them, I did not die from not liking it.  I simply did not eat more of it.  After all, there are plenty more vegetables in the sea.

Veggie Tempura

Eventually I came to realize that it is not the vegetable itself, but how it is prepared, that can make or break a veggie.  Some people will only eat raw broccoli because they feel steaming gives it a bland taste and limp texture or removes nutrients.  Other people will only eat steamed broccoli because the steaming is healthier yet dilutes its flavor.   Vegetable tempura?  Pretty much everyone is up for that.  Personally, the only way I enjoy zucchini is either in tomato sauce or sautéed in olive oil and seasoning.  You will not find me munching on a raw zucchini.  Raw broccolini holds no interest for me, but toss it in with some wheat or spinach fettuccini and lemon juice and I will beat you all to the head of the food line.  This method of tossing in as yet untried vegetables into perennial favorites was how I experienced many of my now favorite veggies.  Somehow the pasta made the zucchini and mushrooms seem less intimidating.  The same goes for spinach - throwing in some baby corn and chickpeas made the whole experience of trying my first bowl of spinach salad less scary.  There are friends in there - they will protect me.  By surrounding myself with food friends I have been able to discover some new favorite foods - pizza with artichokes and figs, eggs with zucchini and mushrooms, a nice crisp pickle on top of a veggie burger, the list could go on and on.  Each time I add a new veggie to my hit list I open up a brand new door of possibilities.

Asparagus with Smashed Potatoes

Recently I attended a summer vegetable cooking class - something I would never have voluntarily done even just one year ago.  On the menu were the following: smashed potatoeswith olive tapenade and goat cheese, grilled corn with roasted pepper butter, grilled asparagus and parmesan, grilled eggplant with roasted tomato salsa, and artichokes with lemon and rosemary.  There are about 10 things on this menu that I was not eating one year ago.  I am proud to say that the night of the cooking class I tried each of these dishes and in the process tasted four new veggies - regular and white asparagus as well as shallots and capers.  Grilling the vegetables gave them a unique flavor dimension that was very exciting.  This was not just putting the veggie on the grill and letting them cook - this was packing them up into tin foil and turning the grill into a makeshift oven, this was utilizing the upper and lower racks of the grill - knowing when to turn over, let simmer or take off.  It was grilling as an art form.  What I learned was - eggplant is not as intimidating as most make it out to be, regular asparagus is my asparagus of choice, and I no longer need to pick the capers off my pizza.  That information, coupled with the fact that the olive tapenade rocked my world and the knowledge that artichokes are so worth the peeling process, made the class totally worth it.  Add to that the fact that it was a free class, which provided me with dinner, made it an evening well spent.

Now, it is true, veggies and I are still just casual friends but I think that in the not so distant future our relationship will be taken to the next level.  There are now more vegetables that I like than there are those that I do not like.  That is quite an accomplish from the kid who would only eat corn.  As for those I have yet to encounter?  Who knows if they will end up friend or foe, but if the past is any indication, I think we are going to have to make some more room in our crisper.