I would have to go with turnips. Incredibly versatile and nutritious root, plus delicious greens to fry up
People say they hate cabbage all the time, but cabbage is really great. You can make slaw with it, you can ferment it into sauerkraut or kimchi, you can steam it for a side or to put in a sandwich, you can add it to any kind of filling or stuffing, or you can roll other stuff inside it, you can boil it in a soup, it gives a great flavor to vegetable broth, it's really nutritious and it keeps for much longer than other leafy greens.
Seems weird to me to hate cabbage, but I suppose there is a certain association with certain very bland cooking? Idk.
I garnered a very low opinion of pretty much all vegetables during childhood that persisted well into adulthood, because I grew up in a household that only ever prepared them one of two ways: raw, or boiled.
Doesn't matter what it was. Carrots, peas, corn, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, green beans... the two exceptions being onions (which may have been fried on occasion) or potatoes (which culinarily aren't in the same category). If it was boiled, there'd be a half-assed attempt to make it taste like something again by melting a knob of butter on it and salting it. That's it.
When that's the extent of your culinary range, cabbage has no reason to enter the house, so for us it never did. We just assumed it would be shit if you prepared it that way. And we were probably right. Boiled cabbage is what the poor Bucket family was said to have eaten every day in Willy Wonka. Doesn't paint a glamorous picture.
I'm only just now coming around to the concept of vegetables tasting good when you, like, y'know, actually cook them well. Haven't given cabbage a fair shake yet, though.
I used to hate cabbage because my father boiled the crap out of it with corned beef every St. Patrick's Day. Disgusting.
Then I discovered stir fry, okonomiyaki, kimchi. Now it's a favorite.
Cabbage boiled with corn beef sounds legit amazing. Is that an Irish thing?
Irish-American, yeah.
Maybe it'd be better if it wasn't boiled into a limp mess. 🙄
Cut it stripes, some salt, fry in a pan and you can throw it over a lot of dishes.
Botanical fun fact: cabbage is just a variant of Brassica oleracea, which includes like every tasty vegetable on the planet: cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts, kohlrabi, kale, collards, all kinds of cabbage shapes, colours and sizes, and more.
I like beets for the same reason, but cabbage is underrated in its versatility. I'm making Romanian sarmale tomorrow with pork/beef/rice cabbage rolls: https://www.jocooks.com/recipes/sarmale/ . Much better than dolmas and the cabbage adds so much body and flavour to the dish.
I had never really used cabbage to wrap things. Thanks for the tip and idea
Brussel sprouts. Lots of people hate them because they got them overcooked as children but they are so pretty and so delicious if prepared properly.
Fun fact: Brussel sprouts taste better now because the bitterness was intentionally selectively bred out of them in the '90s. They were, apparently, only bitter for a period of time because the ones that were easiest to mechanically harvest were bitter. Pre-mechanical harvesting, less bitter varieties were more popular.
https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/do-brussels-sprouts-taste-better-now-yes-here-s-why-01ghed9q8dr8
My dad used to sautee them with bits of bacon or prosciutto. I don't eat pork anymore, but god damn do I miss those Brussels sprouts.
Went to a friend's house one day, she put salt and pepper on a tray of brussel sprouts, put in broiler for a short time. Changed my mind forever, delicious.
Most people where I live haven't heard of it let alone tried it. They're missing out, nothing tastes quite the same as ripe jackfruit.
And you can have them for free in Canada when the season is right. Seriously, there's jokes about people only locking their door to keep unwanted zucchinis out.
I wish I liked them. They seem so useful and plentiful, but they taste so utterly interesting to me. Yes, if they are slathered in oil and perfectly grilled and seasoned, they are fine. But then again what isn't.
Spinach. Its amazing. Kale same deal. Its all in how its prepared.
From the Wikipedia page it looks like this is what I already do, except with a boiled egg instead of paneer. But yeah boiled spinach + tomatoes + onions is the best combo.
Moringa leaves. The tree's hardy and ecologically sustainable. The drumstick fruits and the pods are edible but the leaves are the most nutritious. It also has the highest protein among leafy greens.
In south and south east asia, we consider it medicinal. But actually, it's just nutritious. We feed them in soup form to malnourished people and nursing mothers.
We eat it the same way! Though ours is a bit more watery and less spicy. Our Myanmar version also originated from southern India. The drumstick's eaten quite commonly but I think the leaves are still underrated, even here. May be because of the taste? Although I like it's taste in a simple savory soup.
Jicama is delicious cut up into little strips and eaten raw. Never cooked with it though
