WHAT IS THE BEST VEGETABLE: nomination thread

previously, over on the 'things you were shockingly old when you learned' thread:

Only disgusting savages don't love cheese and peas.

― weird echo of the falsies (Tom D.), Wednesday, 2 August 2017 10:43 (fourteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

peas are bad and if u like them u are bad

cheesy beans on the other hand are unimpeachable

― the shape of a hot willie lumpkin (bizarro gazzara), Wednesday, 2 August 2017 10:46 (twelve minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

cheesy beans are mint, no question

you are v wrong about peas tho, not that I'm advocating cheesing them up

― put your hands on the car and get ready to die (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 2 August 2017 10:47 (eleven minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

peas are bad and if u like them u are bad

wtf, i thought we were friends :(

― Le Bateau Ivre, Wednesday, 2 August 2017 10:49 (nine minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i can tolerate peas as an additive to like a curry or whatever but standalone peas, whether mushy or otherwise, are not good

― the shape of a hot willie lumpkin (bizarro gazzara), Wednesday, 2 August 2017 10:49 (nine minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

sorry lbi, you and i are done

― the shape of a hot willie lumpkin (bizarro gazzara), Wednesday, 2 August 2017 10:49 (eight minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

mushy peas are occasionally done badly but done right they are the best vegetable

― put your hands on the car and get ready to die (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 2 August 2017 10:51 (seven minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

that is pure madness

have we done a 'best vegetable' thread? we need to put this issue to bed once and for all

― the shape of a hot willie lumpkin (bizarro gazzara), Wednesday, 2 August 2017 10:54 (four minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I can only imagine the transatlantic shock and outrage if "mushy peas" was even included as a category

― put your hands on the car and get ready to die (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 2 August 2017 10:55 (three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

brb gonna start a nominations thread

― the shape of a hot willie lumpkin (bizarro gazzara), Wednesday, 2 August 2017 10:57 (one minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Hot Peas and Vinegar is one of the human race's greatest achievement. bizarro get out, just get out now, I don't want to look at you.

― weird echo of the falsies (Tom D.), Wednesday, 2 August 2017 10:58 (thirty-four seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

clearly this level of hostility cannot continue, we must once and for all decide what the best vegetable is (hint: it's not fucking mushy peas)

i'm gonna give us a week to nominate our favourite vegetables and then we'll go to a poll

so, ilx: WHAT IS THE BEST VEGETABLE

MUSHY PEAS

i will grudgingly add 'mushy peas' to the poll, if only for the pleasure of watching it get crushed by a less insane nomination

green beans are the vilest btw

In the past, bean pods often contained a "string", a hard fibrous strand running the length of the pod. This was removed before cooking, or made edible by cutting the pod into short segments. Modern, commercially grown green bean varieties lack strings.

DO THEY FUCK

Green beans should be outlawed, we get them every fuggin' day in the work canteen.

tbf if baked beans counts in this poll I would rate them pretty high

A Hitler Youth manual from the 1930s promoted soya beans, which it called “Nazi beans” as an alternative to meat.

tbf if baked beans counts in this poll I would rate them pretty high

enh, i think we're on thin ice already with mushy peas - if i start allowing different types of serving and prep for each vegetable we'll never bottom this thing out

pees are goode

Mange tout
Lotus root
aubergine
red peppers
onions
pak choy
spinach

and various others.
Also rhubarb as a savoury.

tempted to vote broccoli myself tbh, love those lil' trees

pak choy is also looming large

cabbage

eggplant

Vegetables that are good:

Asparagus. For North Americans, corn (especially on the cob). Snow peas. Red onion. Small red potatoes mashed with skins on, with like a pound of butter. Spinach, especially wilted with bacon fat.

I don't mind peas in general as an ingredient. Don't like 'em mushy, but rather very fresh and just barely cooked (if at all).

tomatoes

yellow summer squash

artichokes

tomatoes

*hard stare*

I love good tomatoes and hate bad ones. I also know they are divisive.

they're fruit!

ZUCCHINI /poll

I'm pretty sure peas are the best, it's unanimous, close poll.

zucchini is also a fruit

goddamn old lunch u are dead to me

So are red peppers (so are ALL chiles), and so are squash, but they don't get the "they're fruit!" treatment.

now that i think about it peas are technically a fruit as well, this whole thing is a sham

Taxonomically, what kingdom do tomatoes belong to? Animal? Mineral?

JK. Yeah, we know, biologically a fruit but (famously) legally a vegetable in the US. Their use in savory contexts suggests that functionally they are treated as a vegetable.

One can go a long way down this path, up to and including anarchy.

Somewhere there's a purist saying not to classify raspberries as a fruit because they're actually a drupe, or some shit. Do we need to go there?

It took me ages to learn that there are lots of non-disgusting vegetables because I grew up on frozen vegetables that were thawed and then boiled into horrid muck. I don't know what that was about, as I almost certainly derived very few health benefits from plant matter that had been deconstructed on a cellular level.

okay, for the sake of sanity and in the spirit of bipartisanship let's say if it's technically a fruit but it wouldn't look out of place in a salad then we'll allow it

* eats spinach salad with strawberries *

* farts *

Rhubarb being a vegetable has never seemed right to me.

rhubarb plays by its own rules, man

And I accept those rules, goddammit.

Vegetables that do not pass my lips: cauliflower, rhubarb, boiled cabbage, boiled spinach, boiled broccoli, boiled carrots. I think I'm good with the rest of them, to varying degrees.

Cukes are pretty good. The only vegetable I can think of that works as the foundation of a sandwich.

i just wondered if my bias is related to the fact that, as a working class Brit of a certain age, peas were the only vegetable we ever had as kids that were cooked roughly as they should be

Someone doesn't like rhubarb, now I've heard it all.

Radishes

yeah, i can see that nv - i didn't each much veg as a kid cuz my mum usually boiled the shit out of them, took me a while to realise that veg is actually pretty good if it's not served in the least appealing manner imaginable

are potatoes being excluded for some reason or is everyone itt just fronting?

potatoes aren't a vegetable in the sense of this poll imo

i dunno, i've put potatoes in salad before, which would put them in line with my clarification upthread

ye mad puffin mentioned small red potatoes too

Are bacon bits a vegetable y/n

bacon bits are a fruit iirc

Do ILX lovers of mushy peas leave dried peas out all night in sodium bicarb or just get it from tins or from the chippy?

three foodstuffs of the apocalypse = rhubarb, pineapple and gooseberry

Mooshy peas ftw

I can remember being served rhubarb and custard at an Auntie's house when I was a nipper, and feeling like it was a severe punishment trying to force that hot vomit down. And that my brother told me dogs piss on rhubarb at an early age has always stuck in my mind.

Roberto otm, the noble potato is the winner here

spinach probably second best

I have never had these 'mushy peas' y'all speak of. Fresh and firm peas are the bomb, though.

also gotta nominate the sweet potato, it speaks ill of this thread that it's taken two hours for somebody to get around to it

Just the smell of rhubarb is enough to send me in the other direction. It's a deep and primal loathing.

We might as well open a can of worms and get started on the pepper nominations.

Roasted red peppers are maybe king of all vegetables.

learning a lot of troubling stuff about ilxors itt tbrr

Roasted red peppers are maybe king of all vegetables.

this is the kind of content i can support tho, also jclc's stanning for sweet potatoes

let me also throw butternut squash into the mix here

Being of 90% Mick 10% Spanish heritage - I'd definitely vote potato. But some obscure reason it is being discouraged by the threadstarters! And sweet potatoes are also divine, and quicker to cook! And Butternut squash with pasta or in soup is beautiful.

But some obscure reason it is being discouraged by the threadstarters!

lies! potatoes are allowed imo

Potatoes are hard to argue with.

... against...

You've got to eat rhubarb raw, dog's piss an' all.

for clarity's sake, let me be clear that dog's piss is not a vegetable for the purposes of this nominations thread

Aye, we used to just pick a stick of rhubarb to eat. We'd have a little bit of sugar to dip it in, and it only stuck to the wet bits. (Normally just the end, but in the case of dog piss the whole thing.)

All of you going on about peas are insane

Mushrooms should count imo

fuck it, i'll let mushrooms in

even although they are vile

the only good mushroom is a psychoactive one imo

Gah, I was hoping no one would raise the dread spectre of fungi (aka nature's garbage).

bizarro OTMFM

How can you make a nice spag bol without mushrooms? Or have have a good hangover fryup? They are very important.

Love 'em.

Yes, I can see where mushrooms would be helpful as a post-hangover emetic.

brussel sprouts ftw

How can you make a nice spag bol without mushrooms? Or have have a good hangover fryup?

pretty simple really, just skip the part where you might be tempted to add mushrooms to either

How does one make a decent lasagna without dumping an ashtray between the noodle layers and sneezing all over the finished product?

mushrooms are fantastic and have the advantage of diversity - spinach means exactly spinach, there's many kinds of potatoes but let's be real they all taste like potato, mushrooms are like wine - so many different flavors - an excellent vegetable, the mushroom

also super good sauteed in butter then reduced with red wine & stock

broccoli (steamed is my #1 green veggie, so quickly made and so good)
turnip greens, mustard greens, collard greens
pole beans (real heads know these are the only true green beans)
summer squash
carrots, parsnips
radishes, turnips
spinach, arugula
onions get cooked into everything esp in the winter. see also scallions
okra!
eggplant

if we're talking starchy vegetables (unfair to the other veggies imo): POTATOES, sweet potatoes, winter squash

mushrooms are freaking gross

Big portabellos are the best non-animal thing for grilling unless you're a corn on the cob freak

xxpost I guess the problem could be my palate, because my reaction to drinking different varieties of wine is basically 'yep, tastes like wine'.

I consider myself a corn on the cob freak, unfortunately it's a grain & not eligible for nomination here if my understanding of this poll is correct

"mushrooms are freaking gross"

A bit of a shiitake imo

I just had a salad with corn in it last week so I think it's up for consideration.

Toadstool is apropos name for fungus why because it tastes like something that came out of a frog's butt that's why

ye mad puffin nominated corn upthread, i'm okay with including it in the poll

Does garlic count as a vegetable? Because y'all. Garlic.

garlic is aces but i dunno, strikes me more as an ingredient than a standalone foodstuff

You clearly have not indulged in the joy of scarfing an entire head of garlic and then watching everyone in your life maintain a wide berth from your reeking corpus for weeks afterward.

i don't need garlic for that tbh

mustardy greens - collards, kale, broccoli rabe

Brussels sprouts
Butter lettuce
Broccoli is so easy and good it's unextraordinary

with such a loose definition of vegetables, this discussion is going nowhere.

1. onions - the Main Ingredient, the finest smell in cooking

2. sprouts - wildly underrated, roasted they are immense

carrots, parsnips, peas, potatoes, sweet potatoes, asparagus, aubergine, spinach all valid contenders. mushrooms are joyous but off topic

with such a loose definition of vegetables, this discussion is going nowhere

you hurt me deeply in my heart

as a former greengrocer i respect the need for standards.

oakleaf lettuce can be amazing but if we're going for some practical/cooking-based taxonomy idk if it counts

best:
mushrooms
potatoes
cucumber
spinach
eggplant
asparagus
corn on the cob

worst:
broccoli
brussels sprouts
cauliflower

parsnips also the worst

albino garbage carrots

best:
Asparagus
Rhubarb
Potatoes
Mushy Peas
Peas
Brussels Sprouts
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Carrots
Parsnips

Worst:
Broccoli
Aubergine
Broccoli
Mushrooms
Spinach
Broccoli

You are all weird

Do fistfuls of grass and twigs count as vegetables?

the bad vegetables are presumably the ones no one eats, everything mentioned ITT is delicious

i imagine all broccoli-haters had too many bad experiences with overcooked mushy broccoli as kids

i don't think i dislike any vegetables except mushrooms

xpost Correct, I had to pour melted Velveeta all over my childhood broccoli in order to make it palatable. It wasn't until only a handful of years ago that I realized raw broccoli is just dandy to munch on.

oh man now i want some cauliflower cheese

if greens as a broad category are acceptable I would go with that cuz spinach, collards, chard, kale, etc are the best

parsnips also the worst

cosign this I have never found a decent way to prepare these that isn't specifically designed to completely obscure the taste and texture

100% true potato-related anecdote:

A few years ago I was seated on a Mayan pyramid, about to see a light show projected onto said Mayan pyramid. My wife and I were discussing the Columbian exchange(you know, as one does) and marveling that tomatoes are now considered a staple of Italian cuisine, yet are not a native food there. Ditto potatoes in Ireland, which are a non-native American import.

ANYWAY.

My wife asked, "What did Irish people eat before they had potatoes?"

At that time I thought I was very clever when I answered, "Leprechauns. They ate leprechauns, and that's why you almost never see them."

Unfortunately, the couple sitting next to us was from Actual Ireland. The guy turned to us and said, "Barley, mainly. Barley and oats."

Meanwhile I'm like "Fuck you Irish guy, did you really just fly 4,000 miles to ruin an offhand joke?"

BRUSSEL SPROUTS

damn that shit is good

celery hasn't been mentioned yet, because it is The Worst

my current fave is fresh sweet corn on the cob

*~CORN~*

xxposts to crut
overcooking wasn't my problem w broccoli as a kid - it was taste ie gross, and the texture ie a mouthful of tiny insects

Corn is good. Hominy, on the other hand, is garmonbozia (pain and sorrow).

love that insect mouthfeel

I always add celery to tomato based sauces, but am not entirely convinced with what it brings to the party. Probably need more research before trashing celery.

This will sound disgusting, but I cooked some oiled/seasoned veg in the oven last week as a late snack. I left it on a bit too long and the cabbage was all burnt, crispy and dark. But I especially enjoyed the burnt cabbage and was thinking: this is better than fugging crisps, is this burnt cabbage.

celery is part of the holy trinity of cajun/creole cooking so um no

and by "no" I mean ergo it is essential

I've always added the ol' celery to my Chilli Con Carne dishes, so have never done one without to know the difference.

can't have mirepoix w/o celery, therefore it is essential

otm

celery also gr8 in chicken salad, egg salad etc

celery works as an ingredient sure but for clarity's sake I'm approaching this in the spirit of 'in isolation, perhaps with mild seasoning'

What, why

cucumber

I'm not fond of the very green celery I've getting recently. It doesn't soften up as much as lighter celery and has an unpleasant taste sometimes. But, otherwise I respect the mofo for not pretending to be a fruit like those lying fake fucks, tomatoes and bell peppers!

eggplant is the most delicious and sensual vegetable. Maybe that's a fruit, though.

All vegetables pretty great.

broccoli number two
or spinach

yeah OK that approach is stupid

cucumber is a good answer but it lacks something - you don't really cook it

the probable answer btw is ROUND YELLOW COURGETTES and their flowers

aubergine also great yes

Aubergine is technically a fruit but who cares, these terms are meaningless. I agree with brimsteads post, they are all good

I tend to bung celery into most of my stir fries alongside about 20 other things.
Got told that celery was good for gou some time back.

Tend to have a load of stuff in every stir fry and maybe need to think about cutting down since chopping time is really oong.
Constants seem to be

garlic
ginger
aubergine
courgettes
onions
leeks
scallions
shallots
pak choy
spinach
Kale
mustard greens
choy sum
turmeric
chillies
red pepper
bean sprouts
tomatoes
cashew nuts
celery
broccoli
cabbage (possibly about 3 types)
chayote or Kolrabi
mushrooms (possibly 2 different varieties)
mange touts
Green beans
chinese radish
western radish
& some variety of meat.

and
lotus root when i get it.
can also include carrots and a few other things if I see them.

I think eggplant is a marsupial. Technically.

all nightshades are fruits you bastards

All fruits are vegetables, except fruits

bitter melon

cough candy

all nightshades are fruits you bastards

― -_- (jim in vancouver), Wednesday, August 2, 2017 10:23 AM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

are eggplants "nightshades", i don't know about this stuff

signed, a bastard

eggplants are a sandwich iirc

raw celery is delicious and was a staple snack of my childhood, along with carrots

celery is wonderful

So, regarding celery. What do you think of as "ants on a log":

- Celery filled with cream cheese and dotted with raisins

- Celery filled with peanut butter and dotted with raisins

- Celery filled with something else and dotted with something else

No idea, raisins are not my friends though

I've been really getting into cabbage lately, I need more cabbage in my life

celery is a fine snack and contributes a little flavor to soups and stews but as the best vegetable ..... pfffft get the fuck out

cassava

Not all nightshades are fruits. Spuds are nightshades

Radishes though

brussel sprouts ftw

― sacral intercourse conducive to vegetal luxuriance (askance johnson), Wednesday, 2 August 2017 11:52 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Seconded however consideration must also be given to

Broccoli
Brocolini
Cima di rape
Huang Hua
Choi Sum
Parsnips
Swede
Red cabbage
Cavalo Nero
Radicchio

My greatest achievement of his winter ha sheen working out how to cook Kale so I actually like it.

I didnt even read the thread. has basically every veg in the world been listed at this point

Probably not even close

lotta fruit iirc

Anyway the answer is "vegetables"

Broad beans please.

Seaweed
Taro
Kumara (guess these could be folded under sweet potatoes?)
Oka
Yams
Bamboo shoots
Water chestnut (root, not a nut)

Not really any bad vegetables though I find bitter melon hard going depending on the prep. Mushrooms for range (enoki! shiitake! oyster!), aubergine for depth.

Anyone want to argue for avocados or peanuts as vegetables?

Would anyone ever think of peanut as a veg? Might as well say chickpeas are.

I'm going to vote for broccoli a dozen times to even out otehr peoples hatred and to make VG mad at me =)

Outdoor miner potatoes are the sweetest fruit of all

Tobacco also a hell of a fruit.

i stand with trayce

If mushrooms (fungi) are going to be permitted under the term "vegetables," then you can't be snobbish about admitting tomatoes or avocados or chickpeas to the party.

We can't get clarity if we can't focus on whether the biological categories need to rule, or the culinary/use-based definitions.

Peanuts are a bridge too far in any case.

It's a vegetable if it could be in a "meat and 3 veg" meal and it's not the meat.

xpost
why are peanuts out but chickpeas in? this is really cornfusing.
shout out to the glorious sunflower sprout then

I'm going to vote for broccoli a dozen times to even out otehr peoples hatred and to make VG mad at me =)

Yeah!!!! Broccoli rules!

It's a vegetable if it could be in a "meat and 3 veg" meal and it's not the meat.

Great, mac and cheese for the win.

are potatoes being excluded for some reason or is everyone itt just fronting?

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

So, regarding celery. What do you think of as "ants on a log":

I think of it as "that gross thing people do to celery to ruin it"

i will flag each and every one of you broccoli lovers

terrorists

This will sound disgusting, but I cooked some oiled/seasoned veg in the oven last week as a late snack. I left it on a bit too long and the cabbage was all burnt, crispy and dark. But I especially enjoyed the burnt cabbage and was thinking: this is better than fugging crisps, is this burnt cabbage.

― calzino, Wednesday, August 2, 2017 12:38 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Maillard reaction FTW.

Winner: Asparagus.
Runners-up: Broccoli (must be fresh and no more than lightly cooked); sugar snap peas.

Radishes tbrr

Wait, no mention of beetroot yet? Apart from classic roadside cafe sandwich fodder & roast veg stainer, been liking them julienned & steamed w/desiccated coconut & methi, vaguely Sri Lankan style.

o yum!

never had but would try

if greens as a broad category are acceptable I would go with that cuz spinach, collards, chard, kale, etc are the best

― Οὖτις, Wednesday, August 2, 2017 9:26 AM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i'd probably go with this too. just give me the greens, it's all good

beets are #1. roasted non-red beets with vinaigrette, salt, tarragon, mint, etc.

has to be potatoes

http://media.mercola.com/assets/images/foodfacts/wasabi-nutrition-facts.jpg

Wasabi has not been mentioned.

We already votin yo

Pickled Okra