I hate vegetables...

[HeatherLynn]

Well, that is not completely true. I love them on a burger, I love them deep fried, I love them covered in butter, I love them covered in cheese, I love them dipped in ranch dressing. I also love them wrapped in bacon. I love sweet peas and corn right out of the can, but other than that, only if cooked with a roast or something.

 

It's getting worse. I took a bite of steamed broccoli today and about gagged. I HATE healthy veggies. I used to at least like them a little, but not now. I'd rather starve.

 

So, what to do???

[Amira]

I hate plain vegetables and always have. So I decided it's better to eat them in a slightly-less-healthy way than to not eat them at all. I found recipes from various ethnic cuisines that prepared vegetables in a tasty way, but without cheese, or deep-frying, or other not-so-great (but delicious) ways to eat them. Now I eat vegetables all the time, happily, and don't mind that they're not perfectly healthy.

[OrganicAnn]

Grow them.

 

You'll never taste peas as good a straight out of the garden. Tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, asparagus, etc taste ten times better fresh. Its a great way to get kids to eat them too. My DD eats all the asparagus we grow, most of our peas.

 

If you can't grow them, the farmer's markets are growing and expanding and you can get fairly fresh.

 

I agree that if you have to it is better to put a little butter, cheese sauce or ranch dip on something than to never eat veggies.

 

Also fresh/organic is more nutritious than canned.

[mombygrace]

My DH makes fruit and veggie smoothies and we love those. He also shreds carrots, cabbage, apples etc in the food processor and the kids snack on those too. They'll take almost any fruit/ veggie combo.

We love stir fries with unusual vegetables ,nuts, raisins etc in them too.

Just some ideas to try.

[HeatherLynn]

Grow them.

 

You'll never taste peas as good a straight out of the garden. Tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, asparagus, etc taste ten times better fresh. Its a great way to get kids to eat them too. My DD eats all the asparagus we grow, most of our peas.

 

If you can't grow them, the farmer's markets are growing and expanding and you can get fairly fresh.

 

I agree that if you have to it is better to put a little butter, cheese sauce or ranch dip on something than to never eat veggies.

 

Also fresh/organic is more nutritious than canned.

 

That is the funny thing, I DO grow them or get them from farmers market. I do like homegrown better.

[Aggie]

Grow them.

 

You'll never taste peas as good a straight out of the garden. Tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, asparagus, etc taste ten times better fresh. Its a great way to get kids to eat them too. My DD eats all the asparagus we grow, most of our peas.

 

If you can't grow them, the farmer's markets are growing and expanding and you can get fairly fresh.

 

I agree that if you have to it is better to put a little butter, cheese sauce or ranch dip on something than to never eat veggies.

 

Also fresh/organic is more nutritious than canned.

 

Very true. Nothing better than home-grown veggies!

 

Find some spices you like. Tarragon is wonderful on brussel sprouts!

 

Try this for broccoli....toss it in olive oil, put it on a cookie tray, salt it, then bake it for 5-10 min. Yummy! It would probably work for any veggie, come to think of it!

 

Also find some Indian and oriental recipes for veggies!

[Rosie_0801]

Stir fry broccoli in lots of garlic. It's good that way! Boiled is the worst way to eat it, and steamed is not much better. Curried broccoli is pretty good too, but curry is usually a good thing.

 

:)

Rosie

[Rhonda in TX]

I grew up on canned veggies and they literally made me gag. As an adult, I have found that I like them steamed. In fact, I actually LOVE some of them if they are steamed.

 

I've also made it a goal to add one new food a year. It's not always vegetables (one year it was baked potatoes), but I'm trying to become less picky. If I eat them over time, I find I can learn to tolerate, and even like, them.

[Ibbygirl]

Stir fry broccoli in lots of garlic. It's good that way! Boiled is the worst way to eat it, and steamed is not much better. Curried broccoli is pretty good too, but curry is usually a good thing.

 

:)

Rosie

 

mmmm you're making me hungry!! I LOVE curry. Curry chicken roti has got to be one of the best inventions in the history of the entire world! YUMMY! :D

[Melissa in Australia]

I love raw and steamed veggies. I really don't like them any other way.

If I had them with a sauce or butter. I would have to do extra km's on the exercise bike. I really couldn't be bothered. I will just stick with plain.

[SonshineLearner]

My kids think Velveeta cheese sauce makes them better;-) I've made maybe broccoli that way...a couple of times. Funny thing, I have less and less fruits/veggies/nuts that I can eat raw, now. I can eat bananas again, but carrots, peaches, apples, cherries, almonds, pecans, and more...I just can't eat raw. My whole mouth/throat itches...if I do...SO, I have to basically eat them all cooked.... Oh well...

Oh, and green beans...boiled forever...sizzled in tons of butter are good...

Carrie:-)

[Kathy in MD]

Try tossing your vegetables in a seasoned olive oil (good) or just spraying with olive oil before roasting them. You're using a better fat for you in small amounts and the vegetables are GOOD! You can also saute your vegetables (at least onions) over low heat using no or very little fat.

 

I like salads and some soups, too. And you can control the amounts and types of fats when you make them. My favorite is a broccoli-cauliflower salad followed by a carrot salad dressed in a tomato soup-based dressing. Pasta salads and hot pasta dishes are also good ways to slide in vegetables.

 

For green beans, do this if you have access to "shell outs", older, almost mature green beans. Cook them forever with ham or bacon. You can do this with less mature beans, but you lose the good meaty flavor. A crock pot is good.

[alegnab]

...If I had them with a sauce or butter. I would have to do extra km's on the exercise bike. I really couldn't be bothered. I will just stick with plain.

I hate exercising, and I hate being overweight, so I'm quite strict in what I eat. I now eat some veggies plain, with nothing added to them, and love them that way (e.g. baked potatoes and corn-on-the-cob, if you want to consider that a veggie instead of a grain). Sometimes I eat tossed salad with no dressing in restaurants. There are some veggies that I just don't like without something on them, though. I'll eat cooked cabbage and cooked broccoli after putting fat-free Italian dressing on them.

 

After I changed my diet five years ago and mostly cut out animal products, processed foods, and added oils/fats, my taste buds changed (plus several other things about my body changed for the better, including womanly things). I got where I could taste the natural flavors of foods more and I couldn't taste fats much. For example, the buttered popcorn at a local amusement park used to taste great to me, but after I changed my diet, it had no taste to me (but still tasted great to dh and dc) and was just very greasy. The only junk food or dessert that tastes as good to me as it used to is chocolate.

 

Now I crave healthy, whole foods, which I notice when I'm on a trip and can't eat my normal diet. I usually take along some things to microwave in the hotel room, because I just can't go very long without my normal foods. I never craved healthy foods until after I changed my diet. I used to crave junk.

 

So, I suggest that you change your diet somewhat, adding more veggies and removing unhealthy processed foods.

[ConnieB]

Your tastebuds have been trained to only like veggies with those high calorie additions. You CAN retrain them, but it will take time. It's no different than cutting back on sugar.....you have to give your taste buds a chance to accept the new flavors.

 

My DH used to drink about 5 or 6 cans of Coke a day.....as he got older and slowed down a bit he noticed he was gaining weight and couldn't really figure out why. I pointed out the sugar count in Coke....and multiplied it by 6. But he complained that he wanted a cold drink and didn't want diet soda.....and water was boring and didn't taste good. I drink only water so I disagreed with him. We got some sugar free syrup like they use in mixed drinks and such (brand I use is Torani) and for a while he used a half dozen squirts of it in a glass of water......and still complained....but persevered. Eventually he started cutting back on the squirt count.....and now he likes ice cold water plain....the Torani is considered a "juice" around here. He will occasionally get a soda when we eat out, but usually ends up commenting on it being way too sweet.

 

The same for you and your veggies! Make the changes gradual, but keep making them. Cut out the fried, as there is just no way to gradually change those, lol.....but for the others, find a low calorie salad dressing SPRAY. The spray lets you get dressing/flavor on the veggies but you don't need to use nearly as much because it disperses so well that each piece will have some flavor, but no need to drench them. You will likely start out with quite a few sprays, but eventually your taste buds will let you cut back on those little by little.

 

Another less caloric sauce for veggies is low-sodium soy sauce. Or try just lemon juice and garlic. We have steamed veggies several times a week....I slice up whatever veggies, dump them in the steam tray and sprinkle some seasoning on them....Italian Seasoning is an easy one...but ginger and garlic make it a great side for an asian dish.....garlic makes it great with lasagne or spaghetti......dill on carrots is heavenly...and there are many others.

 

Another idea would be to check if your library has any of the below books....they have you adding your veggies into other foods in ways that you can barely (and often not at all) taste them. These are obviously geared towards moms getting veggies into picky kids....but they work wonders for adults. I like their recipes not because our family dislikes veggies and I have to hide them...but just because the addition of veggies into things like spaghetti means that our dinner can have twice the veggie kick. While I can say that my family doesn't notice the flavor of the veggies, some people claim they can....but my own experiment with a MIL who claimed she knew from the taste proved that wrong, lol. So YOU may a little more trouble not remembering what you put in that spaghetti (or whatever), but keep an open mind and give it a try a few times to see if your taste buds will stop remembering.

 

Sneaky Chef (she has a series of books, all have Sneaky Chef in the title)

 

The Art of Hiding Vegetables

 

Deceptively Delicious (this isn't just about veggies, but there are many good ideas about them in it...and the other suggestions are really quite easy to implement making your other foods healthier without even noticing much difference in taste).

 

Sneaky Veggies...this one concentrates almost excusively on veggies, and has some wonderful seasonings to try out. He does hide many veggies but some he proudly serves in all their glory but with such a flavor boost (and not heavy calorie) that you may find yourself taking seconds!

 

Again...the main thing is that you have to retrain your taste buds....this won't be easy for a couple weeks, and it's best not to "back slide" during this period....but you CAN do it if you truly want. But flopping back and forth before you've retrained your buds won't work.

 

And now is probably the best time to make these changes because with summer approaching you have the best chance of finding really wonderful veggies. If at all possible, head for a farmer's market instead of the grocery store. Farmer Markets tend to have locally grown veggies, which mean they were probably picked the day before they're sold, so they will have rippened on the vine, which gives them MUCH better taste. The grocery store produce may have been picked a week ago and trucked in, ripening in the bed of the truck. Fruits will be much sweeter from a market as well. If you're not sure where to find a Farmer's Market in your area....call the chamber of commerce, they typically know (call the neighboring town chamber as well).

[MamaT]

I have a child like you.

 

My 12yo dd also hates vegetables (unless they are covered with cheese). She would eat her weight in fruit though, and is generally a healthy eater otherwise.

 

I make her try them cooked in different ways, and she has found a few she likes (steamed cabbage, mixture of veggies sauteed in Teriyaki sauce). I can't cook them "her way" every single night, though. So, I try to make sure she eats some (a little bit) of whatever vegetable I'm serving and just try to make sure she eats healthy food otherwise. One thing she has found that she likes is sliced cucumbers (straight out of the garden). She will eat this as a snack sometimes.

[HeatherLynn]

ConnieB, I know you are right. I will try some of your suggestions. I forgot to add that I will put them IN things and I am fine (spaghetti I LOVE loaded with veggies) and in omelets.

 

Thank you everyone.

[OnTheBrink]

If you over steam broccoli, it's horrid. Same with almost any veggie. They're better, and sweeter, if you steam them till they're still a bit crisp, but not rock hard, and definitely not mushy!

 

It does take time, but if you just persevere, you'll find steamed veggies are really good and even have a sweetness about them, if not doused in ranch or butter (and this is coming from a die-hard ranch or butter person!).

[Suzanne in ABQ]

I really dislike steamed veggies, too. I really like roasted or broiled veggies (asparagus especially! Yum!) I like them in stew. I like good ol' peas and corn. But plain, steamed broccoli, or cauliflower? Yuck. Boring.

[scrapbookbuzz]

Well, that is not completely true. I love them on a burger, I love them deep fried, I love them covered in butter, I love them covered in cheese, I love them dipped in ranch dressing. I also love them wrapped in bacon. I love sweet peas and corn right out of the can, but other than that, only if cooked with a roast or something.

 

It's getting worse. I took a bite of steamed broccoli today and about gagged. I HATE healthy veggies. I used to at least like them a little, but not now. I'd rather starve.

 

So, what to do???

 

Now, this suggestion is WAY easier SAID than done, however, it DOES help! Another poster recommended eating them fresh from the garden and I agree. I also know from experience that cutting WAY back on your refined sugar intake actually allows you to taste the natural sweetness of veggies after a short while. I know, I know, I love my sugar, too. BUT veggies really are naturally sweet when we allow ourselves to really taste them! HTH!

[Julie in CA]

Didn't someone here have a recipe for stir-fried veggies that were cooked in a bit of broth and then a sauce was made by thickening some broth with cornstarch? I think that sounds good, but haven't tried it.

 

I love vegetables, but kind of have the same problem as the OP. I don't do cheese sauce or butter, but I like my veggies coated with olive oil, seasoning, and then sauteed or roasted. :drool5: Leave it to me to make the healthiest foods in the world totally fat and sodium-laden and unhealthy! :confused:

[Chris in VA]

Just wanted to add that you may be extra-sensitive to bitter flavors, so some veggies cooked some ways may taste differently to you than to others without the bitter gene.

[Orthodox6]

I love vegetables -- when they are prepared well. My stomach reels when presented with "southern-style" vegetables drowned with butter and/or overly-stewed with a bone of some sort stuck in for company. (I can't eat that without becoming sick fast.) Nor can I enjoy mushy, cooked-to-destruction victims. Most importantly, canned spinach is a toxin, not a vegetable !

 

If you have any friends who are experienced vegetarian or vegan cooks, ask them for tips. Better yet, just invite yourself over for a meal !