Vegetables Discovered

       So another month -- and another resolution -- has passed.  

       This one surprised me. Aren't resolutions supposed to be difficult and painful? Yet every time I ate vegetables this month, I enjoyed them.

       I guess this resolution counts more as a journey of discovery than a painful lesson.  

       And let's face it. I did learn something important.  

       Maybe I just don't like steamed vegetables. And perhaps it was unfair to vegetables to brand them all with a cloud of steam. I mean, I put a lot of time and care into cooking wonderful protein dishes.  But when it came to vegetables, I tended to just throw then in a steamer, like mere after-thoughts to my meal.  Or like something I dutifully did because I was told to, whether I liked it or not.

       What I discovered this month was that when prepared with care and creativity, vegetables can actually be pretty delicious, and even addictive.

       Thank you to everyone who provided ideas and recipes. You really helped open my eyes...and my palate.

An Unpleasant Odor

       Is it possible that it is the smell of cooked vegetables that I don’t like?  

       Certainly odor is a key determinant of what we think of as the flavor of foods.

       And raw vegetables definitely have a less strong odor than cooked ones. Indeed web sites have stated that if cooked vegetables are being rejected by children, serving raw vegetables instead might be a solution.

       I also found several sites related to beer and wine tasting, where a smell of cooked vegetables is used as a way of identifying an unpleasant aspect of the product being tasted.

       And some vegetables, including cauliflower, broccoli and Brussels sprouts are known to contain sulfur components which can smell unpleasant.

        But I did eat some cooked vegetables over the month -- both at home and at restaurants.  

        Could it be that the cooked foods that I prepared at home were sufficiently masked by other scents?  Both the eggplant and the potato recipes I prepared were cooked with cinnamon, chocolate, and chiles.  

       And at restaurants, since I am some distance away from where the vegetables are actually cooked, perhaps I didn't notice any unpleasant odor. Surely it would be the cook who suffers most from any unpleasant smells, especially the ones that rise up in a cloud of vegetable-scented steam. Blech...

What's up, Doc?

       I was going to write over the weekend about two old-school dishes I had tried – a shredded carrot salad with currants and an iceberg lettuce wedge with blue cheese dressing, both of which I enjoyed.
       But something seemed wrong about that, somehow. I started thinking about all of my entries for the last three weeks, and realized that I had enjoyed every vegetable dish I had tried since the month began.
       This seems a rather strange occurrence for someone who professes to not like vegetables.
       So what is going on here?
       Is it possible that what I thought of as a dislike of vegetables was just some kind of psychological hang-up from my childhood? You know…if my mother said it was good for me, then surely I couldn’t enjoy it?
       But that seems too easy. And honestly, at the age of 45, I like to think I’m more grown-up than that.
       And in reality, there have been plenty of times when I have made vegetables and found myself chewing them with such obvious distaste that Tom actually had to ask me to stop.
       Was it the power of my resolution that made me like vegetables, at least for this one month. That seems unlikely too. 

       Or if that was the case, then I also resolve to win the lottery grand prize this week.
       But what else might be making the difference?

       One possible answer might be that many of the vegetable dishes I ate over the last month were made with raw vegetables only – wraps, bean salads, carrot salad, simple lamb’s lettuce with dressing. Perhaps I have discovered that I do indeed like raw vegetables -- especially in the springtime, when everything is super fresh.
       But, then again, I had enjoyed the chile-cinnamon sweet potato dish, and the eggplant caponata too. And I had enjoyed cooked vegetables I ate in restaurants too.
       At the same time though, I still can’t bear the thought of steaming broccoli or cauliflower or even carrots or green beans -- which is how I often prepared vegetables before.
       And when I think about it, I couldn't even bring myself to taste the caponata until it was at room temperature.
       What’s up with that?

Craving Vegetables?

       Perhaps it was the fault of Chef Bayless and his lack of vegetables at two meals. But when Tom and I sat down to a late lunch at a more mundane diner the next day, something unexpected happened. 

       Despite my insistence that I would rather not eat them, I found that I was, in fact, eating vegetables with gusto -- heartily, enthusiastically, with passion. 

       I first scarfed down a salad, eating every last scrap of vegetable matter in my bowl. Then, I ate each bite of the carrots and green beans served with my entree, even pushing Tom's hand away when he tried to snag one of my carrots. 

       Later, at the airport lounge, where SunChips and granola bars and even KitKat bars were all available (for free) in copious quantities, I instead filled a plate with carrot and celery sticks. 

       I don't know what came over me, but once again, I devoured every one.

       Of course, I ate a KitKat bar too (I love KitKats, after all), but only after I had gorged on the vegetables. 

       It seems that in less than three weeks, I have developed something of a need for vegetables. Some may even call it a craving.

       Is that possible?

       By the way, has anyone else noticed that the little cartoon vegetables to the right (under my Resolution of the Month heading) all seem to have evil smiles on their round, satisfied faces? I used to think they looked innocent -- even friendly. But now that I'm addicted, I realize I was seeing them incorrectly.  

       Maybe my friends and loved ones should start planning an intervention.

Born in the Wrong Place

       Tom and I were in Chicago over the weekend, and had the pleasure of dining at both of Rick Bayless’s Mexican restaurants there – Topolobampo and Frontera Grill. You may recall that I tried one of his vegetable recipes (for sweet potatoes) earlier this month.
       Two things were particularly interesting, from a vegetable standpoint, about visiting his restaurants on this trip. First, on our visit to Frontera Grill, Chef Bayless sat down at the next table over for his own meal, and I got the chance to eavesdrop on much of his conversation. It was not about vegetables. Second, although I had thought a visit to his restaurants might give me more insight into interesting side dishes, vegetables were not a key part of any our meals.
       Rather, our dishes were almost all about meat, poultry and more meat – goat, duck, lamb, beef, etc. I’m sure there were peppers and onions and such in the various exquisite and complex sauces served with each dish. But “free-standing” vegetables seemed merely to be garnishes – a handful of watercress or lettuce, a slice of onion or radish -- there for color or accent, but not enough to be even one of seven recommended servings a day.
       And then I got to thinking about a friend, whose nephew is starting to do some volunteer work in a village in Guatemala. He is excited about the months to come, but apparently is also in a state of vegetable (and fruit) deprivation. The villagers tend to eat a lot of rice and beans, without a serving of lettuce, carrots, broccoli or asparagus to be seen.
       Which got me to thinking…
       Why couldn’t I have been born in Mexico or Guatemala, where I could have been relatively free of Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and the like haunting the side of my plate?
       I’ll bet I would have enjoyed the weather in either place more than I did during my childhood in Canada too.

       It's just not fair.

Don't Ask

       I have eaten at restaurants (not Popeye's!) for the last two evenings, and made a point of eating my veggies.

       Two nights ago, I tried a vegetable dish I have seen in several cookbooks -- grilled radicchio. The menu described it as "Grilled Radicchio Salad with Grapefruit, Red Onions and Honey Balsamic".
       It was delightful -- both bitter and sweet -- and surprising too, since it had an unexpected smoky flavor. Was that simply what grilled radicchio tastes like? Was it grilled over a wood fire? Or maybe they used some kind of flavor enhancer, like Liquid Smoke?
       I decided to ask the restaurant owner, who was serving us.
       "That's from the bacon," he replied.
       "But I didn't see any bacon in the dish," I said.
        He turned red and hesitated several seconds before responding. "Um...Drew (the chef) put bacon drippings in the salad dressing."
        Bacon drippings in the light and lovely-sounding "honey balsamic" dressing?
        AARRGGH!!! Is there any point in ordering vegetables if they're dressed in bacon fat? Aren't vegetables supposed to be pure somehow, and healthy?

       Then, last night, Tom and I shared a plate of "wood oven roasted" vegetables with our dinner. We were served potatoes, corn, carrots, parsnips, tomatoes, fennel, and some kind of squash. Once again, everything (even the squash, which Tom made me try first) was good, and smoky tasting too. 

       I like to think the smoky flavor was from the wood oven.
       But this time, I didn't ask.

Something Strange

       Something rather strange happened today.
       I had a doctor’s appointment and as a sort of reward after going to the doctor, I like to stop at Popeye’s Chicken on the way home.
       I have been a Popeye’s fan for a long time, ever since I discovered it in Toronto maybe 20 years ago. I have joyfully eaten it in several cities around the world since then, from Manhattan to Beijing. And I not only like Popeye’s, I also like KFC, grocery store fried chicken and will even, if desperate, eat Church’s.
       Tom seems to be amused by my love for something so unhealthy and lowbrow, and makes a point of seeking out fried chicken joints for me when we are on the road. As a result, I have also eaten at some famous fried chicken sources, including Stroud’s near Kansas City, and Prince’s Hot Fried Chicken Shack in Nashville. Yummmm….
       So stopping at Popeye’s, clearly on the way to and from my doctor’s office, especially when it was obviously lunchtime, seemed like a natural move today. To be honest, I had made the appointment for midday with the knowledge that it would be a great excuse to stop at Popeye’s.
       But I drove right by.
       I found myself thinking instead about the vegetables I could put in a veggie wrap. I knew I had some delicious guacamole, some super-crisp mini-cucumbers and tiny grape tomatoes. I had roasted peppers in a jar and fresh mint from the garden. And I had baby carrots to munch on as well.
       I actually found the thought of fried chicken (even with a hot buttery biscuit) rather unappealing compared to the fresh, flavorful food at home.
       What’s happening to me? And please tell me, how do I make it stop?

Expanding Horizons, Part II

       I had never cut into an eggplant before and didn’t know what I would discover inside. I vaguely remembered my mother using eggplant -- possibly in front of me -- but I had no recollection whether there be seeds I had to remove, or liquid spilling out, or what. So, I simply cut in, and learned there was nothing to it.
       I diced the eggplants  quickly and started following the rest of the eggplant caponata recipe. 
       I followed the recipe closely, in fact, except that I used perhaps a bit more cinnamon and currants than it called for. I even made a quick version of the tomato sauce called for in the recipe, while cooking the eggplant.
       Things moved incredibly quickly, and about half an hour after starting, I already had a saute pan full of eggplant caponata. When it was at room temperature, I transferred it to a pretty bowl. 

       I didn't taste it though. 

       I could see that, in theory, it would be good. Certainly it smelled good. But it was eggplant, after all. So I simply cleaned up the kitchen, and waited.
       When Tom got home, I asked if he wanted to taste what I had cooked. He agreed readily, but must have been distracted, since he didn’t even ask what it was. Or maybe it was simply that before he could make any inquiries, I shoved a spoonful of it in his mouth. 

       His first reaction was that it was delicious. I waited for him to chew it a bit more, and then asked cautiously, “Do you still like it?” He said that he did.

       Then I told him it was eggplant, which perhaps was a mistake.  

       He immediately seemed to like it less -- a lot less. He looked a little accusatory, maybe even a little bit mad. He said he didn't like eggplant. He said that I had put it in his mouth so quickly that he hadn’t been able to see it – which was, I admit, pretty much true.  
       In any case, I served it with dinner. I reminded Tom that he had claimed to like it earlier, but he didn't respond. We both went a few minutes without touching the caponata. But eventually we gave it a try, and agreed that it was great. 
       It was even pretty fabulous – sweet and spicy with backnotes of the cocoa. It didn’t taste traditionally Italian, but seemed more like an exotic North African dish. We ate more and more, and Tom used the word "great" several times.  And we still had plenty left over to enjoy the next day.
       I would highly recommend the recipe, even (or especially) for people who think they don’t like eggplant. The trick is simply to get it in their mouth somehow for that first glorious taste.

Expanding Horizons

       I had thought I might also blame Tom for my vegetable-eating issues, since he doesn’t like some of the vegetables I wouldn’t mind eating. For instance, I would gladly eat asparagus or zucchini, which he doesn’t want to touch. And I don’t want to cook things he won’t eat.
       The problem with trying to blame him is that he is willing to eat some of the vegetables I prefer to avoid – things like broccoli and those yucky lima beans.
       This means that we are left with only a few traditional “vegetables” that we may not be wild about, but at least will eat – lettuce, green beans, carrots, bell peppers, potatoes and, and…well, maybe that’s it.
       This, obviously, can get a bit repetitive. So yesterday, I decided to try to expand our repertoire a bit.
       I found a Mario Batali recipe for eggplant caponata that I decided to try. (This recipe is available in his cookbook, Molto Italiano, and on the Food Network web site.) I have never tried one of Chef Batali's recipes before, and have actually had a bit of a grudge against him ever since we saw him behaving badly while he was dining at Chef Ming Tsai’s wonderful restaurant (Blue Ginger) near Boston several years ago. For more about Mario's "larger-than-life" personality and proclivities, check out the book, Heat, by Bill Buford.
       Even worse, I suspected that Tom might not like eggplant (since it is similar in texture to zucchini) and I wasn’t sure I’d be wild about it either. I don’t think I’d ever eaten more than a bite or two of eggplant in my whole life, and now I had two fairly big purple blobs sitting on my counter, waiting to be cooked.
       But I overcame these objections for the following reasons. First, Batali does seem to be an incredible cook. We finally went to one of his restaurants (Lupa) in New York recently, and were pretty wowed – despite the fact that we saw him again that night, and he appeared to be as rude and self-absorbed as before.
       Secondly, caponata was one of the dishes I saw on the antipasto bar at Fiorello’s and I was eager to try to duplicate some of those dishes. And thirdly, the recipe also had ingredients like cinnamon, cocoa, hot peppers and currants – all of which we enjoy.

To be continued...

Mea Culpa

       While working on last night’s posting, I started to have an uncomfortable feeling that maybe I, too, have been passing on questionable eating habits to the next generation.
       Well, it’s not quite the next generation, since I don’t have children. But I do have a wonderful dog, Olympia.
       I don’t treat her like my child exactly. Once I told Tom that if I wasn’t married to him, I would marry Olympia. Recently, I’ve been thinking of her more as a beloved sister.
       I don’t dress her in silly clothes or feed her filet mignon or anything like that -- although I have been known to give her small nibbles of lobster, fois gras or truffle cheese, all of which she loved. Most of the time though, I feed her a super premium dry dog food. And as an inexpensive and plentiful treat, I always carry around bits of Purina Beneful in my pockets. Most of the dogs in the neighborhood love me, because they know I have enough treats for everyone.
       But here’s the thing. At the bottom of every jacket or pants pocket, I always have little green pieces of Beneful left over.
       For those who aren’t dog-food aficionados, Beneful comes in an assortment of colors and shapes. For example, there are red chunky pieces that reportedly are moist and chewy and made with real beef. There are also little golden bone-shaped pieces that apparently signify calcium, brown heart-shaped pieces that signify iron, and so on. And there are little green pea-sized pieces that apparently represent vegetables and important vitamins and nutrients.
       And when I give out treats, not only to Olympia, but to all the neighborhood dogs, I always give out the chunky or bone-shaped or heart-shaped pieces, but never the little peas. I am giving the pieces as treats after all, and without even thinking about it, I suppose I figured that no dog would want a treat reminiscent of vegetables. 

       I mean, imagine a parent considering whether to reward a child with ice cream or broccoli. That’s the choice I was making every single day. And I don’t even know if the pieces actually taste differently, or if the shapes and colors are so designed simply to appeal to a human aesthetic.
       So today, I gathered up a handful of those green pea bits from the bottom of several jacket pockets and offered them to Olympia as we went through our day. And she seemed just as excited to eat them as any other color or shape I had ever given her.
       I had, subconsciously I guess, been trying to protect my furry little sister from something I assumed she wouldn't enjoy either. And let’s face it -- she’s a dog. She chews on twigs and sniffs poop. Was I insane?

Laying Blame

       For lunch today (or yesterday, since it's after midnight) I tried Nicole’s idea of creating a vegetable-filled wrap (see comments under my April 2 posting). And as she assured me, it was very good. I used a flour tortilla as my wrap, and filled it with avocado, cucumber and red pepper, along with a small amount of cheese and chicken.
       Only a few days into my month, I am already learning that there are vegetables and ways of eating vegetables that I do like.
       This, naturally, got me to wondering who (or what) I could blame for the fact that I thought I didn’t like vegetables. Blaming can be a glorious thing, especially when one is feeling bewildered.
       So, again, I started doing some research. A web site called helium.com offered several articles on why toddlers don’t like vegetables. As I feel somewhat toddler-like in my vegetable dislike, I thought this was a good place to start.
       One article said that because toddlers have a “natural instinct left over from the primal period that ensures they will not eat poisonous foods found in the forest” they often steer clear of sour or bitter-tasting foods like vegetables. So perhaps it is my natural instinct that tells me I don’t like vegetables, even when my modern, sophisticated taste buds tell me that sometimes I do. 

       I’ve never thought of myself as the "natural" type though. I mean, I color my hair; I wear contacts; I use make-up, deodorant and cologne. Perhaps the vegetable-hating me is part of a wild, primordial Brenda that should be explored further. Tom might enjoy that...

       A second article said that toddlers don’t like vegetables because adults don’t like them. “How can a parent convince a toddler that vegetables are delicious, crunchy and better than candy if she or he shudders at the mention of broccoli?” 

       Although my father claims to like vegetables, I’m not sure the same is really true of my mother. So she seems like an easy target for my blame. 

       This article said that parents should consider what they snack on, and what kind of example that sets for children. Are parents snacking on healthy foods like carrots, celery and red bell peppers? 

       I recall that my mother’s favorite snack when I was growing up was Old Dutch potato chips, served with a glass of Coke. This remains my favorite snack too, although I drink Diet Coke, since that, as everyone knows, eliminates all calories from the potato chips.  Now that I think of it, potato chips and Coke was my mother's mother's favorite snack too. 

       So perhaps we can even extend the blame through the generations.

To be continued...

Do Lentils Count?

       Pam, a frequent commenter to this site, posted two lentil recipes last week and I decided to try one of them for lunch today. But before I could start, I found myself pondering whether lentils were even vegetables at all.
       I did some quick internet research, and discovered the following: that if you look for facts on the internet, even for a few minutes, you can easily find conflicting information, even on a topic as obscure as the vegetable-ness of lentils. 

       Sure, some web sites listed lentils as a vegetable. Others said they are fruit. And others insisted lentils are legumes. Based on what I remember from biology class decades ago, I admit they probably are legumes. So does that count as a vegetable for the purpose of my Resolution of the Month?
       Apparently peas are legumes, and I have always thought of them as vegetables. And what about lima beans? Aren’t they legumes too? I hate lima beans, and recall they (and peas) were always part of the canned Campbell’s "Vegetarian Vegetable" Soup I ate as a kid. I point that out simply to draw attention to the fact that it wasn’t called Campbell’s Vegetarian Legume Soup.
       Despite my uncertainty, I decided to try Pam’s recipe for Little Black Dress Lentils (for recipe, click on "comments" under April 2 posting). One of the good things about this recipe is that it also includes onions, carrots, peppers and corn, which definitely are vegetables – except for corn, which actually is probably a grain, even though corn was in the Campbell’s soup tin too. And, now that I think of it, I suppose that peppers are really a fruit. Hmmmm....
       In any case, I happened to have almost all the ingredients in my cupboards, so I proceeded. I used balsamic vinegar though, instead of sherry vinegar, and canned corn instead of frozen. And, since I was hoping the lentil salad would be my lunch, I also added some feta cheese.
       And I have to give Pam credit. The salad was terrific, and beautiful to look at too -- with the colors of the cheese, vegetables (and grains and fruits) contrasting with the darkness of the lentils. I ate around 1/3 of it, and to my surprise, felt completely satisfied with that as a meal. And certain that the salad would be great tomorrow too (and perhaps even better), I put the rest of it in the refrigerator for another day. 

       Frankly, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since then -- either because it was that good, or because I am, after all, on a diet.
       And I figure that whether the various ingredients were (strictly speaking) vegetables, fruits, legumes or grains, I had had a lunch more healthy than what I ordinarily would have eaten, and a meal I would happily eat again. And that is what is important.

Commenters: Please continue sending in your ideas. They seem to be working!

It Tastes Like Chicken

       On Friday, I decided to start my vegetable-eating quest with sweet potatoes. This was, I admit, a bit of a cheat since I already like sweet potatoes – a lot. The problem is that I tend to eat them only at Thanksgiving. I thought it was time to change that.

       I was pleased to find a Rick Bayless recipe that promised bold flavors -- Chile-Glazed Sweet Potatoes with Cinnamon and Orange.

       For those who aren't familiar with him, Rick Bayless is known for taking traditional Mexican flavors and methods and showing that they can be haute cuisine. He is host of the PBS series, Mexico: One Plate at a Time, and owns two Chicago restaurants – Topolobampo (one of America’s first fine dining Mexican restaurants) and Frontera Grill (which specializes in contemporary Mexican cuisine). Tom and I visit at least one of these restaurants on every trip to Chicago, and we’re not the only ones. Barack and Michelle Obama were reported to have been frequent visitors to both restaurants, and recently Bayless was considered to be a contender for the position of White House executive chef.
       I have tried Rick Bayless recipes before, and know there are no short cuts. A cook has to be in the mood for cooking. And, luckily, I was. We were expecting bad weather Friday night, and I decided to make a roast chicken with the sweet potatoes – comfort food to guide us through the storm. Also, Tom had had a rough week, and I wanted our home to smell absolutely mouth-watering when he walked through the door.
       I dutifully followed the instructions -- pan-roasting garlic, toasting and then re-hydrating ancho chiles, and blending with other ingredients. I added orange rind, orange juice and honey, as directed. And I cleaned and cut the sweet potatoes.
       At this point, I had already spent about an hour on the potatoes, and had used three bowls, two cutting boards, one frying pan and my blender, as well as an array of spatulas, spoons and knives. I couldn't bear the thought of messing up anything else, and decided to skip the step where the chile mixture is pushed through a sieve.
       This was not the kind of attention I was used to paying to mere vegetables.  Tom would be home shortly. And I hadn't even started on the chicken yet.  
       And then it struck me that the richly-colored chile blend I had made for the potatoes would probably be delicious on the chicken!

       Suddenly, all the effort I had made seemed like it might actually be worthwhile.
       No, I didn’t use all of the blend for the chicken. Rather, I poured around 3/4 of it over the sweet potatoes, but set the rest aside. I added some room temperature butter to this final 1/4 of the blend, and to change the flavor profile slightly, added additional dried herbs and some unsweetened cocoa powder. I quickly rubbed this mixture under the skin of the chicken breast and all over the outside of the bird, and put it in the oven at 425 degrees.
        About 20 minutes later, I added the pan of sweet potatoes to the oven -- cooking both dishes together for the last hour. 

        The rain started soon after, but our home was toasty-warm and filled with wonderful scents by the time Tom got home.

        More importantly, both the chicken and the sweet potatoes were absolutely delicious. They were both richly-colored too, and to add still more color, I also served some bright green lamb’s lettuce (mache) with a light olive oil dressing.
       The dinner is something I would gladly make again. I got two great dishes from one recipe.
       And to make things even better, there was enough leftovers of both chicken and sweet potatoes to serve for a yummy lunch Saturday.

       My first experiment was a success!

Going on a Diet

       Thank you commenters, for your suggestions to make this month’s resolution more palatable (click on comments under April 1 post). I did not know that about the enzymes, Pam. I don’t think I’ll have sufficient time in one month to work on developing a taste for enough vegetables, though. I like the suggestion about adding vegetables to things like muffins, and I certainly love the suggestions from Nicole and Voncey to add cheese on top of whatever vegetables I’m trying to gag down.
       But here’s the thing. I’d also like to lose some weight. Somehow (although it’s possible the giant fried cheese ravioli had something to do with it), I have managed to put on around 15 lbs this winter. And I’m not happy about it. So I have to find a way to eat vegetables that won’t mean eating things like muffins and extra cheese.
       Karen’s nutritionist’s suggestion -- about eating vegetables before eating anything else – is intriguing. So before eating lunch today, I munched down five baby carrots – taking them like vitamins (as suggested by Voncey). A good thing about this suggestion is that it also should help me feel more full, which is always a good thing for a dieter.
       But I really do want to find a way to make vegetables palatable enough that I’ll gladly make and eat them as healthy side dishes. I don’t mean to boast, but I’m a pretty good cook. I put a great deal of effort into making delicious entrees. I make some great one-pot meals with vegetables in them too. But I make and serve vegetables on the side solely out of a sense of duty. I’d like to find some way to enjoy them for their own sake. And hopefully, by the end of the month, I’ll have several recipes or ideas that I’ll be pleased to make even after the month ends.
       So I am going to revise my resolution for this month. This month, I’m going to try an “Eating my Vegetables Diet". Here is my plan. I’ll diet, which is a total drag, but clearly necessary. I’ll eat all the boring stuff I usually eat on diets. But I want my vegetables to not be boring. I want them to be the one thing that’s different each day – the one thing so delicious and flavorful that it makes up for the fact that I’m dieting.
       Is that too much to expect out of vegetables? Maybe, but I’m going to give it a try, anyway.

       And thank you to those "anonymous" commenters who add their names to the end of their comments.  It is definitely more fun to have names to connect to suggestions. Please keep those comments coming!

Vegetables Are Yucky!

        Like many four-year-olds, I have an issue with vegetables. You’d think I might have grown out of it by now, but that simply is not the case. Sure, I eat green salads occasionally, but that can get a bit repetitive. I also consume foods with a lot of vegetables in them: vegetable soup, a chunky tomato sauce, vegetable stew. I even drink V-8 sometimes, in a lazy attempt to have a minimal number of vegetable servings a day.
       But the thought of eating vegetables as a side dish turns me off. Steamed broccoli, carrots or beans, even sprinkled with nuts or glazed with maple syrup, are still, simply… yucky! Sure, I’ll eat a bite or two if they’re put on my plate, but since I do most of the cooking around here, that doesn’t happen a lot.
       A few years ago, I put Tom in charge of my vegetable consumption. He was to pester me until I ate a suitable amount. You can imagine how well that turned out. At least our marriage survived.
       Then, last week, I had an idea. We were in New York City for a few days, and had dinner one night at Café Fiorello, across from Lincoln Center.
This restaurant has an impressive antipasto bar – a vast and colorful array of dishes like caponata, caramelized fennel, cauliflower Milanese, Tuscan white bean salad, and so on. I didn’t eat any of it, of course, choosing a giant fried cheese ravioli as my appetizer instead. Indeed, anything covered or stuffed with cheese wins my vote, every time. But my point is that the dishes at the antipasto bar looked good enough to eat!
       So here is my resolution for the month – to learn how to prepare vegetable dishes that I might actually enjoy eating.
       Now that my home is cleaner (and greener), and my posture is better, it’s time to listen to Mom again and “eat my vegetables”. But at the age of 45, I’ll do it my way.
       I’ll welcome any input, suggestions or recipes.