Hey! I'm new here and am delighted to have found this section. YAY, I'm not the only one that can't stand vegetables!! Veggie challenged is seriously an understatement for me...I HATE vegetables! The only ones that I can stand to eat are corn and potatoes and the occassional baby carrot. I have tried to make myself eat others like lettuce, onions and tomatoes and I can't do it. Even the thought of crunching into them makes me gag! I know that I need to be eating more vegetables but I just don't like the taste of them. Please give me suggestions, I really want to find ways to add more veggies to my diet.
Experiment, experiment, experiment. Different veggies, different ways of cooking, different ways of converting the taste and texture to something you like.
If you were just talking about a vegetable or two that you didn't like, I'd say don't eat what you don't like, but when you're looking at eliminating an entire food group, I think more drastic methods are in order.
Tastes can change, so there is hope that you can "learn" to like vegetables (at least some of them).
Firstly, if you like fruits, then you can compensate (a little) for not liking vegetables. Fruit is higher in calorie though, so portion control is important. Choose lots of different colors.
Grinding veggies and adding them into soups, stews, meatloaves, burgers, mashed potatoes, taco meat, lasagnas, casseroles, macaroni and cheese, breads, spaghetti sauce....
Covering them in sauces (even if you have to spend some of your calories on sauces, dressings, dips... if it helps, go for it). If you like veggies in some type of condiment, you can gradually decrease the condiment until you like the veggie naked (if you do it gradually enough, this should work with no trauma).
There are several ways to make veggies more palatable for veggie haters. There are even books on the subject (mostly aimed at getting kids to eat veggies, even ways to "sneak" veggies into other foods).
My husband is an extreme veggie hater. Oddle enough (except for potatoes) the few he likes are the ones most people don't:broccoli, beets, peas.
I've found a few ways to make veggies that he will eat, but it's hard.
He likes soup (but will pick out veggies if their are too many chunks of veggie in it), so I make a soup with V-8, chicken broth, a few noodles and veggies (I'll throw almost any in).
If you like mashed potatoes, you can try stirring some in. You can saute onion, green onions, cabbage, kale, or spinache (or a mixture) and stir them into mashed potatoes (you could even blend them in a food processor before adding them to the mashed potatoes). Cauliflower doesn't have a very strong taste, and if you cook it until very soft and mash it along with potatoes, you might like that (you might want to start with only a small amount of cauliflower to a large amount of potatoes, and every time you make it, just keep adding more and more cauliflower and less potato).
If I roast veggies, there's a better chance hubby will eat them. Basically I toss bite size veggies in a gallon ziploc with a little oil (about a tsp for a half-filled bag) then add in some dry ranch dressing powder like Hidden Valley Ranch mix) and then bake them at 400 degrees until tender and starting to brown.
I love veggies, but can't stand tomatoes (except in tomato sauces, or a very, very thin slice on a sandwhich).
I never used to like carrots, but I love them cooked with a roast. My nephew went through a veggie hating phase, and would only eat veggies with ranch dressing (even the cooked ones). He was pretty skinny, so my sister let him go ahead and use light ranch dressing on his hot veggies. My husband will eat anything with cheese sauce on it, so rather than fatty, gross fake cheese, I would melt one half to one slice of a good "real" cheese
onto the veggies (I love asparagus and swiss this way).
I really, really urge you to experiment. You will be amazed by all the different veggies out there and the different methods of cooking them. Good luck!
Thank you so much for the advice and the link! I do eat quite a bit of fruit. Do you have any recommendations for those books on how to make kids eat vegetables? I hate to admit it, but I probably am just as picky or worse than most kids! Also, what are your thoughts on v8 fusion? If I'd drink a little of that each day, would that be okay? Honestly, since I've never been a veggie eater, any amount that I add to my diet is going to be an improvement.
There is a cookbook called Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld that is all about hiding veggie purees in different foods to trick kids into eating their veggies. Some of the recipes are pretty good and the trick works for adults too. I never did hate veggies, but when I started my new way of life, I was not eating very much of them. My plan calls for eating 4.5 cups of veggies/day, and that used to seem like soooo much to me. I have been tracking my intake lately and was surprised to see that most days now I am eating 5 cups or more without really thinking about it. It took a while to get there, but I'm sure you can do it too.
A couple of tricks I use:
Every day I drink a glass of tomato or V8 juice and that counts as a serving or 1 cup of veggies. You can only replace one serving this way though, drinking 4.5 servings of V8/day is not good either!
Every time I cook something I try to think about how I can add veggies or sneak veggies in. Casseroles, soups, stews, spaghetti and other sauces, you can really load up with the veggies!
I really think this is one of the most important areas for successful weight loss and this time of year is great for all the fresh and delicious produce available to experiment with.
Oh, I'm not sure about the V8 fusion. On my plan we can eat fruit but we avoid fruit juices because of the high concentration of sugar.
Good luck!
I am SO with you. I have tried LOTS of veggies prepared lots of ways, and I still consider myself veggie challenged.
I do suggest you keep trying, though. I have discovered that I like spaghetti squash. I have discovered that I can tolerate cooked brocolli florets, but only the Bird's Eye baby variety. I have discovered that I don't like raw broccoli enough to eat florets in salad, but I can handle shreded broccoli slaw since it's such small piece I can't taste it much. I have discovered that I can eat a big salad (letuce, baby spinach, and broccoli slaw as the veggies) if I have a good dressing and shake my salad in a sealed container so the dressing coats it all well.
Anyway, all that to say, I wouldn't know if I hadn't tried. I still keep trying. I made turnip fries last week. I burned them, but I will try them again. I bought some eggplant to try simply because I can't remember ever having tried it before. I might not like it, but I won't know till I try!
I grew up loving veggies and still do which I think helps me get more creative with them. You just have to think outside the box. My husband grew up with canned veggies microwaved with butter and thats it. It was no wonder he didn't like them.
One of my favorite very healthy lunches or even dinners is sauteed tomatos or V8 with tuna. You don't even need olive oil or anything just add pepper.
Another favorite is a very low fat sauce I put on a lot of veggies like sweet potatoes, green beans or almost anything else. Combine plain low fat yogurt, finely chopped basil, red wine vinaigrette, balsamic vinegar. Warm it slightly and pour over veggies.
Find a good vegetarian restaurant with a buffet. Try a few dozen different well prepared delights. You might be surprised what others can make vegetables taste like.
If the vegetarian restaurant in your area doesn't have a buffet, then explain your situation to the owner. I bet he/she would make you a grand sampler menu.
Thank you for all of the wonderful suggestions! I am going to try and find that book that was mentioned. I think the best solution is going to be "hiding" them in things I already like to eat.
I think the best solution is going to be "hiding" them in things I already like to eat.
I hide veggies, too. I've found a great one is to take a package of frozen chopped spinach (I suppose you could use fresh, too--I just buy frozen so they don't go bad), puree it (I use my Magic Bullet), and add it to pasta sauce. It makes the sauce a little darker, but I honestly can't taste a difference at all, plus it stretches the sauce further.
I'm a veggie-hater too, and I've tried many things...I drink the V8 Fusion, and eat the "veggie chips" and such, and I've tried many veggies and still can't tolerate them. It has something to do with the texture of vegetables...whether you roast 'em, bake 'em, make soup, it doesn't matter, I still can't tolerate them.
My question is, is there a diet that doesn't involve such hearty portions of veggies that actually works? I know that any diet I try generally has a lot of veggies, and I'm doomed to fail when I see all those veggies...what can I do?
Since texture is an issue, you may want to consider pureed soups like butternut squash, and red pepper tomato. There are lots of recipes. Maybe start with the ones in the box in the soup section to see if it will work for you, and then experiment with your own recipe and other combinations.
My easiest one is half a bag of frozen spinach, some onion, a handful of peas, and a bunch of parsley simmered with water till cooked (just a few minutes). Season with bouillon powder or salt, and pepper. Use the stick blender to smooth out. Stir some cottage cheese or sour cream into the hot soup for added smoothness. I feel vibrantly healthy just looking at it!
Keep trying. You can lose weight without eating alot of vegetables, but for healthy long term weight loss, I am a firm believer in the power of the veg.
V8 fusion is great. Make sure you get the light version, though. I throw a cup in with my fruit smoothies.
I agree with the girls about hiding veggies in sauces, it really helps. I'm a veggie hater and my guy wont ever touch veggies. When we got committed to dieting, we decided to try one new vegetable a week. Found out we really love butternut squash. We make squash fries and they are soo good. There's a recipe on allrecipes.com website. Another thing to try is "mashed potatoes." Mashed cauliflower takes just like mashed potatoes. But for a first timer I would recommend half potato and half cauliflower. Cook your potatoes and cauliflower like normal then put one part of each in the food processor and blend. You wont be able to tell the difference, promise.
I use to make a thick and creamy vegetable soup, which I've lost the recipe to. But you pretty much throw a bunch of cooked veggies in a blender and blend till smooth. Doesn't taste like veggies at all. Good side to your main dish.
My best recommendation is to browse recipes with an open mind and try one new thing a week.
Some tips from a website:
•Grate or dice the vegetables and add them to chili, hamburgers and meat loaf.
•Don't forget muffins and quick breads as vehicles for grated carrots and zucchini or mashed squash and sweet potatoes.
•Make your own pasta sauces by pureeing flavorful vegetables like red peppers. Kids who won't eat plain cauliflower might eat pasta with cauliflower sauce. (Or, then again, they might not.)
•Kids love finger food, so serve small raw vegetable pieces with low-fat dips and salsas. (Or with that ever-popular kids' dip, ketchup.)
•Sneak leftover vegetables into your child's favorite soup.
•Melt cheese on top of vegetables before serving.
•Use wraps. Try mashing up beans, spreading them on a flour tortilla topped with grated cheese, rolling it and heating in the microwave. The result is a delicious, healthy lunch dish or snack disguised as a fast-food burrito.
Wow, I had no idea people hated veggies as much as I do. When I was a kid, I actually made myself throw them back up so my mom wouldn't make me eat them. I do like cucumbers, peppers (red or green), peas and green beans, however peas in my house are out since my husband will eat anything but, so I dont push them. I do eat the above veggies, but only once in a while, not everyday like I should. I have thought about hiding them, but since I prepare the food, i know they are in there and I pick them out. My dad used to hide Onions in the meatloaf, and my the end of the meal, i would have a bunch of spit out onions on the plate.
However, what have I got to lose by trying. I think looking to kids cookbooks are a great idea and I actually use them alot when looking for new recipes. I also like soup, so maybe I should add a soup with more veggies.
Veggie Challenged is an understatement!
Veggie challenged is seriously an understatement for me...I HATE vegetables! The only ones that I can stand to eat are corn and potatoes and the occassional baby carrot. I have tried to make myself eat others like lettuce, onions and tomatoes and I can't do it. Even the thought of crunching into them makes me gag! I know that I need to be eating more vegetables but I just don't like the taste of them. Please give me suggestions, I really want to find ways to add more veggies to my diet.
Also, what are your thoughts on v8 fusion? If I'd drink a little of that each day, would that be okay? Honestly, since I've never been a veggie eater, any amount that I add to my diet is going to be an improvement.
Vegetarian Buffet
