Monday, January 02, 2006

Hating what is good for you

What is your most hated food? For some reason, certain vegetables seem to top most people's lists. Lima beans, beets and brussels sprouts are some of the foods with the highest yuk factor.

Not for me, of course. I save my bile for abominations like Cool Whip, that plastic orange Nacho cheese goop and Jell-O with chunks of things embedded in it (celery does not go with ANY flavor of Jell-o, people. Nuts do not belong in Jell-O. Meat or fish products DO NOT BELONG IN JELL-O. (Note to PETA people: yes, I know what Jell-O is made of).

I used to hate lima beans, but then I met a guy at Farmer's Market who was selling shelled zip-locs full of tiny, fresh green limas. Sauteed with a little butter, some green onion rings and a dash of salt and pepper, they made me a convert to the Lima Bean cause.

I have loved beets and brussels sprouts ever since I was a kid. Weird, I know. And I never liked steaks or hamburgers. I guess I am a natural-born vegetarian.

I really want to know: hit me in the comments section with your three least-favorite foods. I will post results Jan. 15.

Sweetnicks has a new meme: ARF Tuesdays. Anti-oxidant Rich Food Tuesdays. Here's the rules: Pick a high-anti-oxidant fruit or veg, cook it up on a Tuesday, post, and let her know.

Here is my first contribution - my favorite recipe to fool brussels sprout haters. It is modified from Margaret Fox's small but mighty book "Cafe Beaujolais."

Brussels Shreds
Brussels Sprouts
Butter
Lemon juice
Grated Parmesan Cheese

Trim the bottoms off the brussels sprouts and remove the outer, loose leaves and any buggy parts (brussels sprouts attract aphids like computer keyboards attract spilled coffee).

Cut the sprouts in half through the stem. Lay them flat side down, and using your best knife skills and a good, sharp knife, slice them into very fine shreds starting at the top (parallel to the root) and working your way down.

Melt enough butter to coat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Throw in the brussels sprout shreds, toss a bit, squeeze a little lemon juice over, and slam a lid on for about 3 minutes. Remove the lid, toss on some grated parmesan, and put the lid back on for another three minutes or so.

This makes the sprouts tasty but so un-sprout like that your victims - I mean guests - may not recognize what they are eating. The bitter flavors that people hate are less concentrated, and they don't have that mooshy texture that sprouts get when you cook them long enough so that the middle is soft.

5 comments:

The Guardian said...

Ok...so I'm not a vegetarian...and for the most part, I love veggies. But I have to say that texture can be a big turnoff to me as far as food goes. My three least favorite foods would be eggplant, okra, and salmon. Eggplant is mushy, Okra is slimy, and Salmon, no matter how it's cooked, tastes too fishy for me. Ick.

C.

Cate said...

Hey there! Just saw this, but didn't get a heads up you were joining in the fun... do you want me to include this in ARF/5-A-Day #2 this Tuesday?

Heather said...

cool site!
My 3 least favorite foods ok I actually will not eat them at all are:
1. mayo
2. ranch
3. fish

Anonymous said...

Bruxelles sprouts are the best! If... they're homegrown. I grew my own this winter, actually they grew themselves, I was 1400km away from my garden (a little less than 1000 miles). You can eat the leaves of the 'tree' as well, and you'll find that they're sweeter than sweet corn - if there has been at least one frost before plucking. My blog has several recipes for the the leaves tossed raw into an Asian vinaigrette and left to sit an hour... yum. Also you can stir fry them for a few seconds with said mixture. Just a few seconds though...

Anonymous said...

Least favorite...meat & seafood, green peppers, bitter greens that have been cooked to nothingness...