Do you do something special with vegetables that surprises everyone? Have you ever made a dish that left everyone saying "Wow, I never thought I liked brussels sprouts, but this is delicious!"

Please share your best recipe that is guaranteed to convert a veggie hater to a veggie lover

Here is an awesome butternut squash recipe. I've only made it once but I've meant to make it again. It is soooo good.

http://www.recipezaar.com/82191

Suzanne that question sort of reminds me of when I had my parents and sister over for the first time since my "lifestyle" change. I had always made huge, many courses, fattening meals for them. Well of course those days were over for me. I served the first course - Red Lentil Soup, which they loved and didn't stop complimenting me on it - and we get to talking about my new menu and way of eating. So I tell them how much I love and enjoy veggies now and my mom says something like, "I can eat any vegetable except asparagus". (Funny though cause growing up the only veggies she served was canned creamed corn and homemade french fries.) I'm sitting next to my daughter, she's ready to burst out laughing, knowing that I made massive quantities of roasted - asparagus. So I say to mom, "Well then you might just want another serving of that soup, cause we're having asparagus." Of course I was serving chicken and something else that I can't recall as well. Anyway, I had roasted the asparagus with chopped fresh garlic and some sea salt. Naturally mom and everyone else ate it up - it really was exceptional. My mother didn't stop raving about how she's never had asparagus quite like THIS. She wasn't just being polite either. She truly loved it.

I really think most people are unaware how good veggies can be just simply being roasted. Of course fresh ones - NOT from a can. I think many people would be converts if they just tried em' that way.

That is funny Robin. My ILs are similar in that they never eat veggies unless we are around. When I go visit, I cook lots of veggies and they eat them up. Of course their favorites are the meat and the carby foods but if it wasn't for me, I'm not sure they'd eat veggies.

That is funny, and what a great example, thanks I believe that everyone that says they hate vegetables just hasn't had them cooked properly. If you grow up on canned potatoes and frozen "mixed vegetables" then you don't have a clue what real vegetables taste like. I've also discovered what roasting can do to veggies, and grilling them outside is truly unforgettable
Nelie, that squash recipe sounds delicious! I'd leave out the green peppers and add spinach. I put spinach in everything, lol.

My boyfriend is the perfect example of this. He always tells me before we met, he had "a vegetable" maybe once a month. Now we are a 6-7 bags of salad a week household. He grew up in a midwestern, meat and potatoes household, so vegetables were presented canned and frozen. It's been a process to get him to try new things and he is still surprised at how a bowl of vegan lentil soup fills him up.

Also, about salads: he doesn't like a lot of "color" in his salads, where I will put everything but the kitchen sink in mine. He finally agreed to try one of "my" salads with chicken.
-baby greens/spinach
-grape tomatoes
-red cabbage
-sunflower sprouts
-artichoke
-grilled chicken and tossed with my own balsamic vinegarette. He absolutely loved it.

I also think that if you have been raised "canned and frozen", real veggies have a very different and surprising flavor and that in itself can take a while to get used to.

I´ve recently had a sort of potluck at my place and I`ve managed to convert several people to use this salad rather than their mayo soaked versions.

For four servings:

1 large cucumberç
3 md tomatoes
1 sm red onion
2 tbs of parsley
3 tbs of red vinegar
bitty bit of garlic
pepper to taste
1 tsp of cumin
1 half lemon
(optional 1 tbs of extra virgin olive oil)

um, chop everything you can except the lemon. Add the stuff, squeeze some lemon juice, cover the pan and shake. Serve right away or chilled (if you have a fridge). It`s by far the easiest salad and it goes really well with your carb. Especially in this heat.

The only veggie I truly don't like is broccoli....now, no one believes me because I serve it twice a week; it is, after all, a wonder food.

Broccoli sprouts are even more nutritious, and I sprout my own, so I would never have to serve broccoli, but my SO and son eat steamed, crisp broccoli, and it is so easy...they eat it plain, but I use a tip I learned in Prevention. I sprinkle Caraway Seeds on it, and it really makes it edible. If anyone else suffers from broccoli deficit disorder..this is as easy as it is effective.

I used to think I wasn’t overly fond of Brussels sprouts, till I roasted them! The way I do it is super simple, cheap and easy. I toss frozen sprouts (inexpensive and easy to get year-round) with a short drizzle of olive oil, few shakes of soy sauce, pepper, maybe a couple other spices depending on what I’m serving it with, and a splash of vinegar (spicy mango chili vinegar from Trader Joe’s is my current obsession) or lemon juice, and a couple shakes of bread crumbs. Roast at 400 for about 40 min, and voila, yummy!

and
I was gonna say roasted asparagus, Robin. Your story made me laugh because that is exactly what happened when my mother (the most notoriously finicky eater in the world) came to visit and I made roasted asparagus. Same with sprouts (I've never tried the frozen but I'll give it a go sometime). I just drizzle with a bit olive oil and roast in the oven.

In fact, asparagus made that way is probably one of my all-time favorite dishes.

I make a mushroom lasagne that is to absolutely die for.

Roasted veggies (or veggies that aren't overcooked) always taste better then the mush that I think most of us grew up with. My mother overcooked every vegetable known to man (except artichokes~she did those well.) It really is a miracle that I like veggies.

My sister made zucchini sauteed with garlic for the family years ago and it really opened my eyes. I think it was the first time I had ever had crisp tender veggies (the only way to go in my opinion.)

I have a great brussel sprout recipe that even haters like. You chop them finely in a food processor and breifly sautee them with garlic, cider vinegar, and a smidge of brown sugar (you could probably leave out the sugar~it's a holiday recipe.) I think people don't realize what they are since they are chopped, so there's no preconcieved dislike there.

My mom does mock potato salad using cauliflower instead of taters. It's really good!

It's made exactly the same way you would make potato salad for your family, however it is you like it, only with cauliflower.

I have just recently (like just last week) gotten onto a "must choke down veggies" mode. And come to find out, baked / "roasted"? squash in the oven is DELICIOUS!!! WHO KNEW?!! I slice it thin, put it in a baggie with a tsp of olive oil, shake to coat, put in a pan, sprinkle a little salt, cover & bake. OMG! So good! Kind of sweet, even. I'm trying zucchini that way next.

Oh, and of course there's spaghetti squash. My mom makes it a lot and pairs it with a homemade tomato salad instead of thick sauce. My step-dad and step-brother scoff at any kind of veggie other than a potato, but even they eat this.