Ways to force myself to like veggies
 

I need suggestions on ways to make myself like veggies. I only like green beans, peas, corn, and carrots (cooked only).

I want to like salad, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, celery, etc etc etc!

My mom passed away when I was 2, so I was NEVER made to eat foods I didn't like---causing me to be the pickiest eater on earth.

My main issue with most vegetables is the textures.

I want to love veggies. I even think salad looks delicious...I just don't like it.

I hate ranch dressing...absolutely hate it. So maybe that's part of my issue with salad because I always try it with that.

Is there anyway I can make myself love them??

A fave of mine is green beans - and I often cook them until they're fork tender (i use french cut green beans most of the time) and I brown some minced garlic in olive oil and then kind of flash saute them in the olive oil and add a LOT of black pepper :) I LOVE them and love them reheated leftover but they usually always go when we have the girls here.

Do you like peppers or onions sauteed - think fajitas? We have them quite often and count them as veggies...

Originally Posted by nationalparker:
A fave of mine is green beans - and I often cook them until they're fork tender (i use french cut green beans most of the time) and I brown some minced garlic in olive oil and then kind of flash saute them in the olive oil and add a LOT of black pepper :) I LOVE them and love them reheated leftover but they usually always go when we have the girls here.

Do you like peppers or onions sauteed - think fajitas? We have them quite often and count them as veggies...

I love green beans, as long as they are tender. Mmm. I'm going to try browning some minced garlic in olive oil, that sounds good.

I don't really like peppers and I can tolerate onions---as long as they are thinly sliced and in food.

Originally Posted by SicLikeSarah:
I have the same problem... I wasn't raised on very healthy eating habits so carbs are pretty much my best friend and I loathe veggies. :( Like, even though I know what I should be eating, I can't figure out how to make it enjoyable, I guess. I want to be able to eat healthy for life, but it's pretty much impossible if you don't like veggies!

Really the only advice I've been given is to try preparing veggies different ways until you find something you like - steaming them, cooking with certain oils, etc... But I'm at college so I generally have to eat them the way they're given to me at the dining hall. Plus, my mom never has time to cook much (my parents split up when I was 10, so she's had to work quite a bit in order to support herself and me, so I usually just grab something quick for my meals at home), so I never learned all the different ways to prepare veggies and other foods. :(

Sorry I can't help, but hopefully someone else can!

Yeah, I'm going to have to look at different ways to cook them to hopefully make them some what enjoyable.

Continuous exposure, basically. With every meal put a tiny amount of the veg you want to get into on the side of your plate and you've got to eat it. Try to eat it properly, i.e. chew it up rather than choke it down. Eat it as if you were doing a report about what each vegetable tastes like, describing the texture, etc. to a recently arrived alien. I'd keep each individual thing separate for now and just concentrate on eating a bit of something with each meal until you get bast the barriers. Think positively about it, if you find yourself looking at it thinking OMG I have to eat this *barf* then deliberately turn your thinking around and tell yourself you are going to eat this small piece of food and it may be nice, not so nice or indifferent but you are going to give it a fair chance.

I'm still on the very small portion stage myself, and I've given myself enough tries at carrots to know that I really, truly, genuinely do not like them. I think you have to give yourself permission to continue to dislike things too. If you have given it an honest try and you still don't like it then quit on that item and find something else. I didn't like carrots raw, boiled, steamed, microwave steamed, grated, baby, canned, frozen, in carrot cake, in cubes in a stew, nothing. I have concluded that I do NOT like carrots. Funny, I may have got into veg a lot earlier if it hadn't been for everyone saying that carrots were likely to be the best for me to start with because they are sweet - that is THE worst thing about them! LOL

I don't mix things together just now, I try lettuce on its own, cabbage on its own, it can be at the same meal, but never have more than one thing in my mouth together just so I can get a really good gauge of what I like and don't like.

Oh, and remember how many different types of salad there are, I think I counted 11 different pre-packed mixed salads in my grocery store, so if you don't like one sort, try another.

And some things you might like one version, but not another. I hate cherry tomatoes but LOVE grape tomatoes and plum/Roma tomatoes. I don't like cooked tomatoes much, but enjoy them fresh. Nope on cooked cabbage unless its doused in vinegar, but like a fresh homemade coleslaw with the light dressing I've made.

Like you, i dislike crispy green beans (prefer mine the English way - SOFT!) which many folks turn their nose up at nowadays. That's why I steam mine before flash sauteeing them ... I use more pans, but heck, I love 'em :)

Good luck!

Here is what i do for spinach - i coat a pan with spray olive oil - 0 calories, sautee diced garlic and crushed red pepper - toss in fresh baby spinach and cook just enough to turn it bright bright green and to soften the leaves up a bit.

you can do the same thing with mushrooms, though i add a bit of water so they don't burn and turn soft.

veggie tacos - shred carrots, yellow squash and zucchini, add some black beans (canned and rinse them well), coat pan with non stick spary and 'grill' until hot season with pepper and sea salt. There are many varieties of good tortillas out there, fill your tortilla, top with diced onion, tomatoes and cilantrol

Kayla- why do you keep trying salads with ranch dressing if you hate ranch dressing? There are a million different kinds of dressing out there! Have you tried any of the light honey mustards or a fruity raspberry vinaigrette? They might be more to your taste.

Do you like fruit? Maybe making a salad that was heavy on fruits (Like romaine lettuce or spinach with crumbled feta cheese, walnuts, mandarin oranges, blueberries, apples, dried cranberries, or whatever other fruits you like) would make the introduction to eating greens more palatable for you. I would dress a salad like that with maybe a raspberry or balsamic vinaigrette, or even a light poppyseed dressing.

I think one of the best ways to prepare most veggies is to roast them instead of trying to sautee or steam them. This is good for broccoli, asparagus, green beans, or probably anything: preheat oven to low broil, toss veggies in small amount of olive oil and seasonings (garlic, garlic powder, lemon juice, salt, pepper, small amount of parmesan, etc...) and roast on a cookie sheet (with edges) or in a casserole dish for a few minutes until brown around the edges. This makes it more crisp than mushy and you may like the texture better.

I think tomatoes may just be a lost cause for some people, like my husband. I LOVE them. I could eat them all day every day. BUT as much as I think some people may just not like all things tomato, like one of the other posters on here, I implore you not to judge all tomatoes by those plasticky pink tissue-paper tomatoes that restaurants use. The best way (I think) to eat a tomato is plain. Followed closely by tomatoes served as a caprese salad (no lettuce in this one) just tomatoes (grape tomatoes are delicious in this, or heirloom tomatoes that are all different colors), salt, pepper, a little balsamic, a little olive oil, a lot of shredded fresh basil and a few small chunks of fresh part-skim mozzarella. YUM!

Have you tried making raw carrot salad? I like it the old-fashioned way with shredded carrots, a little light mayo, and raisins (I know sounds weird), but I've also started making a variation with no mayo at all- just shredded carrots, balsamic vinegar, and craisins. That's not bad, either! And if you want to have it more for a meal, you can make it either way with lean ham chunks and whatever kind of seasonings you like.

I'm the exact same! I like all the veggies you like and I occasionally like salad however I tend to get bored with it. I'm a carbaholic! My husband loves veggies, he can eat them anyway and enjoys them. I wish that was the case for me! I know if I find a sauce or cheese that works with veggies, that sometimes helps. However, of course you have to plan for the extra calories that come with that. I also tend to like certain veggies the best when they are steamed, they seem to keep more flavor that way. I guess you just have to experiment!

Stir fry for me! I love making a mostly veggie stiry fry and adding a bit of lean protein like shrimp. Really you can have anything you like in there, and it's just a yummy way to eat veggies. I also like Amy's organic veggie burgers and you could always make a fruit smoothie and sneak veggies in. You can't tell any are in there if it's properly done, tbh.

I hate ranch dressing also, and that definitely puts us in the minority! Try other dressings on salad, balsamic vinegar & olive oil, cider vinegar & olive oil. Annie's Goddess dressing.

If you like green beans & peas, you might like zucchini, yellow crookneck squash, snow peas, edamame.

Try slicing zucchini or crookneck into strips about the size of greenbeans and cook them to the same softness. Look for shelled edamame in the freezer section. You can heat them, or put a 1/3 cup frozen into a couple of cups of water, thaw them, then eat them cold as a snack.

Buy a couple of different frozen mixed vegetable combinations. They all seem to be loaded with carrots, so you'll have something you like. It gives you a chance to try some of the other vegetables in small quantities.

If you haven't roasted vegetables before give it a try! Roasted vegetables are awesome! Here's one thread at 3FC about them, you can search and find many more.

Any vegetable you like cooked, can also be eaten cook, leftover and cold. Think of the green beans in a nicoise salad, peas in a minted pea or pasta salad, corn in a mexican salad (kidney beans, green beans, black beans, corn, cilantro, oil & vinegar), carrot & raisin salad.

It's great that you want to expand the vegetables you like. Just keep trying vegetables different ways and I'm sure you'll find vegetables you love. Recognize that peas are legumes, corn is a grain and carrots are a root vegetable. By expanding you likes to include even a few more vegetables like beans you're really giving yourself some more great choices.

i second the roasting of veggies, esp broccoli! yum! and also try asian sesame dressing on salads... my honey hates veggies but likes em with this dressing. any grocery store, and i usually get low-cal (~50 cals for 2 tbsp).

I would also add, why not look into smoothies? Many can be milk/yogurt based with a lot of fruits, but you can often add vegetables to these without tasting them.

Or if you make a soup, use a low sodium v8 or some other thing that packs a good vegetable punch as part of the base.

Beyond that, I'll say that your tastebuds change. after thirty five years despising spinach, my mom realized she likes fresh spinach in place of lettuce in salads. Another thing that may help is eating very clean (as whole foods as possible) because it can reset your taste buds. so instead of needing a twinkie to get your sweets craving, suddenly an apple is delicious. I would second the suggestion to try a lot of different ways and different combinations of the same foods before you decide you don't like it. I don't really like shrimp, but there's 1 recipe I have that I'll eat it in.

so keep at it. Good luck!

i like vegetables but i find myself sticking to the same veggies over and over because they are familiar and i know i will like them. however lately i have been expanding my horizons and trying vegetables that ive never had before, like silverbeet/swiss chard and edamame. i am even planning to try brussell sprouts for the first time since childhood. i just tell myself that i will try it and if i dont like it, i dont have to eat it but at least i will have tried. surprisingly ive been loving all the new foods ive been trying and will work them into rotation in the future!
my suggestion is to find a vegetarian cookbook, possibly something like Veganomicon or anything with a good section on vegetable sides. i may be biased since i am one but i feel like vegetarians and vegans really know how to cook a vegetable to get the maximum taste out of it since they dont rely on meat to provide the basis of a meal.

Kayla, do you like tacos? My favorite salad is taco salad...and thats because it doesn't taste like a salad, it tastes like a taco.
Here's how I make it:
Bed of lettuce (iceburg has no flavor or nutrients, so start there, then graduate up to mixed greens)
pico de gallo (I buy the pre-packaged pico at grocery stores, or you can make your own with onions, tomatoes, cilantro, lime/lemon juice)
Guacamole
Sour Cream
Ground meat (turkey or beef, lean) with taco seasoning.

This is a great way to cloak the veggies. After time you can add in large chunks of tomatoes, avocados, or more lettuce. The guac and sour cream act as dressing.

Also, pay attention to veggie sides that you like when you eat out at restaurants, then duplicate at home. Lots of veggie sides are covered in oil (like slow-roasted vegs). When you make at home, slowly over time just use less oil. Veggies covered in oil is better than no veggies at all, IMO, so it might be a place to start.

I love veggies, but hubby was rather picky when I met him. How I got him to try and like new veggies (and other foods too) was to prepare them in very unhealthy, but hard to dislike ways and then cut back on the unhealthy ingredients.

For example sauteeing a veggie in butter or topping the veggie with a creamy, high-calorie sauce. Or serving the veggies with a creamy mayo/sour cream dip. Then bit by bit, using less of the fatty ingredient.

For me, texture is more important than taste. Even if something tastes absolutely horrible to me, if the texture is ok, I can eat it. However, no matter how good something tastes, if the texture is one I can't handle I can't swallow to save my life (applesauce for example gives me the heebyjeebies).

Roasting is my favorite flavor/texture for veggies, but it took some practice to get the roasting just right. I love when there's just a bit of charred edge, and the outside is crispy and the inside of the veggie is soft.

Which world cuisines/cooking styles do you like? Italian, Chinese, Indian, Thai, Japanese, Middle Eastern, for instance? Almost all cultures have a good vegetable tradition in there, and different styles can make the most enormous difference to whether an ingredient is palatable or not. If you can think of a style/cuisine you like in general, and even more if it's one where you have previously discovered that a meal you just wolfed down included veg you don't usually like, try cooking in that style. I have never really got on with cauliflower, and traditional British ways of cooking it are miserable, but a Chinese cookbook of mine has a recipe for Indonesian cauliflower soup which is absolutely delicious.

Grilling makes veggies wonderful and I don't like veggies either. Esofia is right I love Thai food and really good Chinese, and can eat vegetables that I would not normally eat. When I make my Pasta sauce I make it with carrots, celery and onions and sometimes peppers to get the veg count up. Makes a better sauce.

im in the same boat but im far worse off. i dont eat any veggies AT ALL. :( i have a terrible time with texture. i cant eat apples b/c theyre spongy and crunchy. i can do apple sauce but its kinda lumpy.

i try and taste things but it isnt taste its the way it feels in my mouth. i cant physically swallow stuff. i drink the v8 fusion with the fruits and veggies as much as i can to try and help but i know its got a good bit of sugar in it.

any advice? i dont want to thread jack but we're kinda in the same situation.

my staple diet so far is poptarts (i know i know.... :no: ) pasta (love italian food. spent 2 weeks in italy and cant wait to go back) down to one dr. pepper a day 1.5-2 liters of water a day and whatever pizza we make at work. also on the plate is cereal, oatmeal, grits (which im out off and now craving) and soup (campbells chunky usually, i eat like a man, meat and potatoes!)

Are there any forms in which you will eat vegetables? You mentioned pizza: what's on that which you will eat? The tomato sauce? Actual pieces of vegetable? How are you with puréed veg, e.g. dips or soup?

I love veggies, and most days I eat a morning scramble with onions & peppers (which I buy frozen/chopped) then a salad for lunch (dressed w/EVOO and parm) and a stir "fry" for dinner.

I didn't used to like salads much myself -- I always loved veggies as an adult, but the veggies were cooked and flavored by meat. I got in the habit of eating a salad every day and now I love them (but it still has to be flavored -- now with parm). I think it is mostly just doing it and getting used to it.

But for a stepping stone, I'd recommend doing things like making soup with lots of veggies (If you don't make home-made soup, just throw part of a bag of mixed veggies in with a can or two of your favorite canned soup and heat till the veggies are cooked). If you make spaghetti sauce, add lots of veggies (again, you can just throw in some frozen mixed veggies, but fresh zuchinni or greens works well too). The same can be done with the sauce for lasagna if you make that.

Lots of foods cooked in a crock pot can also have frozen veggies thrown in. Any time you are making a pot roast or stew, have those frozen veggies handy.

As you can tell, I am a huge fan of frozen veggies and eat a lot of them. Even though I love veggies, I still routinely end up composting some portion of the fresh produce I buy. The frozen veggies wait for me to get around to them and they maintain their nutrients better than the fresh produce that has sat around in a store then in my fridge for too long.

Watch the documentary Food Inc or read articles on factory farming, slaughterhouses etc--should help you turn to vegetables.

I am vegetarian and cannot imagine eating cows, chickens, pigs, etc as they live and die so horribly. Even fish suffer when caught.

Best wishes as you learn to enjoy nature's bounty of vegetables.

i definitely agree with roserodent. constant exposure will help it be easier to eat. and definitely have some variety every day. for a few weeks i was on a cucumber kick and ate raw cucumbers every day. now i almost cant stand cucumbers. as long as you dont wear yourself out on the veggies you do like it will be easier to experiment with different kinds of veggies you arent used too :)

Thanks for starting this thread :)! I found some wonderful ideas id like to try here, thanks girls (the carrot &raisin salad sounds so yummy)

for me, i've been having sauteed veggies for like 13 days now and i love it. the thing is to find a dressing u liike to have with it. for me, it's my special yougurt mustard dressing (it's 2 cps of yoghurt, 3/4 big spoon of mustard (the one with seeds) and 2 pieces of garlic a little salt and voila! it's sooo yummy

also the grilles veggies (zucchini+carrots+sweet potato + little olive oil + salt + pepper is very delicious as well

and you can try to add veggies to ur other foods, like having a tuna salad with potatoes and onions and cucumber... tomatoes in ur sandwitches

hope u find veggies very delicious soon!

I use a juicer. You can get one fairly cheap at wally world. Sneek in a veggie here and there with fruit that you like. Celery is really got for you and I mix that with just about everything I juice. There are tons of recipes online for juicers, your bound to find something you like :carrot:

You can also try hiding them in other foods. You can roast vegetables and then puree them and put them in soups and stews. You can also make yourself a smoothie and add a cup of spinach. Once it's blended you won't even taste it.

Sometimes you just have to put your big girl panties on & do it.

I suggest once a week or when ever you go to buy the bulk of your groceries, buy one or 2 new kinds of vegetables to experiment with. My guess is there are plenty of other veggies out there that you like but you just haven't had them yet.
After you pick out your veggies, come here and create a thread about how to prepare it, that should get you lots of responses and many healthy ways to prepare it. Another way is to do a search for it and see what comes up. I think you would be surprised at what kind of results you'd get. Also don't give up, if you don't like it the first time try it a different way. Good luck with finding the veggies you love.

My absolute favorite way to eat any veggie is grilled. Just yesterday I went to the market and bought the cheapest things I could find which happened to be broccolli, white onions and a variety of bell peppers. I sliced them up and sprayed them with olive oil cooking spray and sprinkled them with a little salt and pepper. I use one of the grill pans that have holes all over it and cooked them outside about 15 minutes or so. OMGoodness. Total deelish!

Btw, the poster earlier that wrote to say constant exposure is the way to make yourself like veggies is right on!

My suggestion is--until you have trained yourself to not automatically balk at the though of veggies add them to your favorites.

I make a cheesy veggie quesadilla...
Whole Wheat F. Tortillas
1/2 cup frozen bag of Cauliflower, Broccoli, and Carrots...cook till soft then chop up into mini bites.
Your favorite cheese--enough to cover entire tortilla

Spray pan with Pam, Warm Tortilla, cover 1/2 with cheese, then Veggies, then cheese again...fold tortilla onto it's self and flip, both sides should be a golden brown.

I also add a lot of veggies to my eggs, meatloaf and soups.

When scrambling eggs add a bit of spinach and feta cheese...
Meatloaf can be bulked up using Carrots and Celery
Soups can have cabbage, spinach, or really anything

Hope this helps

Such great ideas here! I am slowly learning to appreciate veggies. Great idea with the cheese and veggie quesadilla - I frequently melt cheese on a tortilla now, such a simple thing to add veggies, yet I didn't think of it. I'm also going to try roasting some veggies. I find that they are always easier to eat when in small bites, so I will be sneaking them into more recipes. My mother always made the carrot slaw with raisins, but I am going to try it with craisins, since I like those more. Also, I've found I can handle a serving of low-sodium V8 a day and that counts! Thanks everyone!

I usually eat my veggies with a lot of other stuffs like rice.

e.g: 90% rice + 10% vege into my mouth at a time

<<Stir fry for me! I love making a mostly veggie stiry fry and adding a bit of lean protein like shrimp.>>

Same here. I find a heaping plate of onion/pepper/mushroom/garlic/bok choy stirfry to be very satisfying, with or without protein like shrimp or tofu. I always add a little bit of exotic sauce to mine, like Tuscan fig or orange ginger. Sometimes I'll add water chestnuts and bamboo shoots.

Freelance

add spices...then even vegetables will have a good taste...

From what I've heard/experienced, current research indicates that you have to try (as in, eat a serving of) a food you're not used to 8-11 times before you get acclimated. So there's really something to be said for repeated exposure.

I became a veggie eater after I discovered oven roasting. I'm not a fan of raw veggies, but I also don't like those boiled-to-death-then-covered-in-butter "vegetables". A little olive oil and fresh garlic tossed with asparagus, broccoli, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, tomatoes, etc... then into the oven at 350 until it's tender but not soft. I love it.

This thread is a little old, but I found it interesting to read.

I've taken to adding veggies I don't normally eat and don't care for. I tried the cauliflower mash, but I use more than half cauliflower and potato. I also tried spaghetti squash in place of pasta. It was good, but labor intensive. I do enjoy making stir fry.

Deceptively Delicious
 

My husband is very similar to you! He'll only eat a handful of vegetables and usually chooses not to any at all. A friend recommended this book to me. Some of the recipes don't sound too great, but a bunch are wonderful. It basically slips portions of vegetables into dishes that you might already like without you realizing they're there. It usually works better if someone else is cooking it for you, so that you aren't thinking about how much is in there! The other thing I like about the cookbook is that it's for kids, so the portion sizes are very reasonable, unlike some cookbooks! I wish I had the cookbook in front of me to remember what my favorite recipes were... just search for "Deceptively Delicious" on amazon or google. :)

I hate vegetables myself except for corn (either corn on the cob or canned corn and not the salt free kind) russet potatoes and canned green beans. It all must have salt for me to eat it. The ONLY way I can manage broccoli is if it is completely smothered in American cheese. I gag over all other veggies. I can't swallow them. I have tried and tried but I hate them. I don't like smoothies and I don't like most nutritional shakes. So I have some serious work to do myself! People think that telling me do it anyway is going to make me be able to swallow, but it just doesn't happen. What I would give to be able to eat veggies :( .....and not like salt so much! lol

I used to HATE veggies before I started my journey. Now my favorite vegetables are cabbage and mushrooms. I loooovee steamed cabbage with a little i can't believe its not butter, salt and pepper. I just find it so delicious. And mushrooms! I like to use them (crimini mushrooms) in my breakfast wraps. Otherwise, I pile veggies on my veggie burgers (lol) or sautee them with a little coconut oil to make spring rolls. You just have to find away to prepare them so that you will enjoy eating them.

I used to hate vegetables. I never liked lettuce and tomatoes on my sandwiches, I hated salads, and I couldn't stand just eating steamed vegetables. I spent a lot of time at the dinner table while my parents would force me to finish my veggies.

Since I've been on weight watchers I have been trying to find some "sweet" veggies recipes and then I would wean myself off the sugary stuff that makes them delicious. I've learned that veggies are ok as long as I prepare them in fun and delicious ways. Last night I made carrots cooked in maple syrup (regular) and margarine. They were so amazing and only 1.5p+ for 4 oz! My challenge is to make sure that if I sit down for a dinner I try to have half my plate be fruits and veggies.