An Acquired Taste For Fresh Vegetables: I Can Do It

I don’t love vegetables.

There, I said it.

My deep, dark confession.

My motherhood failure.

I’m the girl who orders the potatoes as my side while my friends sweetly say, “is it possible to have an extra side of vegetables?”

“No tomatoes anywhere on my meal,” is something you will often hear when you dine out with me.  Now, this isn’t to say I don’t serve them. Or that I won’t eat them as a good example for my small people. But, friends, here is what I want you to understand:

I want to like vegetables.  I want to crave them the same way I crave salty foods.  I want to train my palate to want extra cucumbers and kale and peppers and yes, even tomatoes.

As I have deemed this my Summer of Firsts (I’m also learning to catch a baseball/softball and have planted a small garden), I began to do some research on acquired tastes and Taste Psychology – is it possible for me to learn to love foods I have previously believed I don’t like?  It seems the answer is yes.

How to acquire a taste in new foods:

• I need an open mind – attempting to banish the ‘first impressions’ I’ve had of squash, spinach, green beans, peppers and even some previously unknown fruits like mangoes and grapefruits.
• I need to be willing to try them more than once, changing the ways I prepare them….experimenting until I find the ‘right’ way that may suit my palate
• Go for the freshest possible options – fruits and vegetable coming from local farms and farmer’s markets will provide the very best flavor and will likely give me a taste I haven’t experienced before.

It was just as I was having this internal struggle and doing the leg work that I was approached by Green Bean Delivery – a year-round food delivery service that brings local, organic produce and groceries right to your front door.  They offered to let me try their service one time to see what I thought. Perfect timing. I ordered their Small Fruit and Vegetable Bin which included spinach, lettuce, broccoli, green beans, small peppers, 2 cucumbers, 3 bananas, 3 grapefruits, 4 oranges, 2 mangoes and a bin of strawberries. Each time the service arrives, the items will vary depending upon what is in season.

I loved having new items to try as I never buy peppers like that and have only purchased mangoes once before. Having the fresh produce inspired me to experiment with how I served them… I baked the green beans and carrots with oil and sea salt at 400 degrees for 15 minutes and everyone enjoyed them.  And rather than serving broccoli as its own side dish, I created a homemade Chicken Alfredo with broccoli and must admit, it was my family’s favorite meal of the week.

The bananas, strawberries, oranges, lettuce, green beans, spinach and broccoli disappeared in a hurry.  The cucumbers and peppers took a bit of work.  I can safely say grapefruit are still not at the top of my favorite’s list.  Green Bean Delivery is a membership service… you can choose to have delivery once a week or once every two weeks and your minimum order must be at least $35 (which is the equivalent of the Small Fruit and Vegetable Bin that you see above).  The small bin is designed to feed 2-3 people, the medium bin ($42) is for a family of 4 and the large bin ($49) is set for a larger family ‘looking for a healthy and diverse diet’.

Green Bean Delivery also offers a variety of natural groceries, many from local farms and artisans as well.  This service is available not only in Missouri, but in other states in the Midwest – including Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky.

For a long time, it has been on my list to a) incorporate more organic healthy foods into our family diet and b) have groceries delivered….. this service accomplished  both for me.  While you don’t know what will be in your bin from one week to the next (this means you must be willing to experiment) I liked that it forced us outside of our ‘boring’ food comfort zone and into a place where we tried new things. Now, it didn’t mean I could eliminate the grocery store entirely as my family goes through 20+ oranges a week and there are some items I can only get at our local, traditional store, BUT I do have the option with the service to customize what I would like delivered…. I don’t only have to go with a certain sized bin, but can certainly opt to add on.

Food for thought….

Disclosure: As mentioned above, Green Bean Delivery did offer me the opportunity to try their service. Their offer coincided perfectly with a change I was planning to make in my home.  As always, all thoughts and opinions are mine and mine alone.