How to Teach Yourself to Actually Like Vegetables

The best thing about vegetables is that we’re supposed to eat more of them. Veggies
are so high in vitamins, minerals, fiber, and phytochemicals that they play a major role
in keeping us healthy. And they’re so low in calories that we can eat our fill.

The catch? If you were raised on a typical American diet, you may not have developed
a fondness for this food group while growing up. Choking down vegetables you loathe
because they’re healthy is no fun. But it’s not too late to cultivate a taste for Brussels
sprouts and carrots. Here’s how four experts recommend training yourself to enjoy
eating veggies.

Make Nutritious Delicious

When people claim to hate vegetables, often what they really mean is that they detest
bland, mushy veggies. “Many of us grew up in homes where vegetables were prepared
in the most unappetizing ways,” says Kristen Martinez, M.Ed., Ed.S., LMHCA,
cofounder and counselor at Pacific NorthWell in Seattle. “Boiling and over-steaming
were common methods of preparation for many vegetables, including notoriously-hated
ones such as broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, and Brussels sprouts.” Explore different
cooking methods, such as roasting, baking, sautéing, and grilling.

Get creative with seasonings. “Adding herbs (such as cilantro, basil or parsley), spices,
and lemon or lime juice to a salad can amplify the flavor,” says Lauren Graf, M.S., RD,
clinical dietitian for the Montefiore Einstein Cardiac Wellness Program in New York. “For
grilled vegetables, try creating a simple marinade of herbs (such as garlic, parsley, or
basil), salt, pepper, and a little olive oil.”

Feed Your Other Senses

Entice your other senses as well. “We eat with our eyes first,” says Graf. “Spend a
couple of extra minutes making your plate look nice and appetizing.” That’s readily done
with vegetables, which come in a spectrum of vibrant hues, including dark green, red,
orange, yellow, and purple. Mixing colors helps maximize not only your plate’s eye
appeal, but also your nutrient intake.

A crunchy sound and crispy texture can also contribute to a vegetable’s allure—another

argument for well-prepared fresh veggies rather than soggy boiled or canned ones.
Whether you’re consciously aware of it or not, your mind may associate crispness with
freshness and desirability.

Branch Out Gradually

 Even if you’re a self-proclaimed vegetable hater, there are probably one or two veggies
you can abide. Use those few vegetables as a starting point for gradually expanding
your taste preferences, says Mindy Haar, Ph.D., RD, CDN, director of clinical nutrition at
the New York Institute of Technology School of Health Professions. One way to branch
out is by trying new varieties of a vegetable you already like. For example, let’s say
you’re OK with ordinary orange carrots. Haar suggests checking out yellow, purple, and
red carrots, which are increasingly available.

Another way to switch things up is by trying new cooking methods for familiar favorites.
Let’s say you enjoy the satisfying crunch of raw carrot sticks. For a change of pace, you
could try roasted carrots instead. “The roasting process causes caramelization of the
starches within the vegetables, making them taste sweeter,” Haar says. “In addition,
roasting may make some phytonutrients more bioavailable.” Once you’ve sampled
roasted carrots and found them tasty, it’s an easy next step to add a few turnips,
parsnips, or sweet potatoes to the roasting pan.

Rename Your Veggies

We acknowledge the difference between French fries and baked potatoes. Why
shouldn’t we do the same with non-starchy vegetables? Take Brussels sprouts, for
instance. “When you roast halved Brussels sprouts with salt, pepper, a generous drizzle
of olive oil, and maybe some balsamic vinegar at the end, they taste nothing like the
notorious Brussels sprouts of childhood,” says Martinez. “It’s easier to think of them as
different vegetables entirely.”

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To cement the distinction in your mind, Martinez suggests giving the dish an appealing
new name. Then tell yourself that you’ve never had this delightful-sounding dish before,
and try to approach it with an open mind. Belgian blossoms, anyone?

Rewrite Your Food Story

Sometimes, memories and feelings from childhood get in the way of accepting new
foods as an adult. Gennifer Morley, M.A., LPCC, director of North Boulder Counseling in
Boulder, Colorado, recommends this approach to confronting and overcoming childhood
food hang-ups:

1. Picture how vegetables were served in your home growing up. Who would cook them
and how? Who would eat them? What would happen at mealtimes?
2. Talk about vegetables out loud, but when no one else is around. “Keep talking freely
—even just babbling on—and listen to what you’re saying,” Morley advises. “You may
hear some really childish words, such as ‘yucky,’ coming from your mouth.” Accessing
your childhood feelings may remind you of why you find veggies unappealing today.
3. Revise the story you tell yourself about eating vegetables. “For example, let’s say
that, in your home as a child, you only had canned veggies drenched in butter,”
Morley says. “There is likely a very loyal kid inside of you who sees that as loving and
nurturing. You could tell yourself: 'That was so yummy and loving of Mom (or Dad or
whoever) to make it for me. I should be sure to have it sometimes as a treat. And
those same veggies are also good when I eat them raw or cooked another way. What
yummy recipe do I want to try?’”
Talk Back to Stereotypes

Of course, more recent associations also affect your openness to a new food. To

overcome this source of resistance, Morley recommends asking yourself these
questions: What kinds of people eat vegetables today? What do they talk about, think,
and feel? How am I like or unlike these people?

“This will open your mind to current-day associations, which you can then examine for
truth,” Morley says. For example, if you’re a guy who believes that eating “rabbit food” is
unmanly, you could ask yourself: What defines manhood? Does eating vegetables
really have anything to do with it?

Try, Try Again

Don’t expect to totally transform yourself from a veggie hater to a veggie lover
overnight. Like any lifelong dietary change, this one is best achieved through slow but
steady progress. “Repeated exposure to vegetables can increase your taste for them,”
says Graf. “Over time, it’s definitely possible to retrain your palate to like vegetables.”

Source: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/minding-the-body/201507/how-teach-yourself-
actually-vegetables