Picky Eaters? Tips on How to Introduce Vegetables

Learn to like Those Yucky Veggies with Smart Strategies to Familiarize Yourself or Others with New Foods

I didn't always like vegetables. Sure, I ate kid favorites like french fries and corn on the cob, and I even enjoyed green peas and baked beans. But boy, was I picky about the rest.

I'd eat baked potatoes, but only if I could leave behind the skin. I liked tomatoes one year, then decided they were too squishy the next. I loved salad, if by salad you meant cucumbers topped with cheese, bacon bits, and chow mein noodles.

I wouldn't touch mushrooms, zucchini, spinach, carrots, sweet potatoes, cabbage, and shall I go on, or do you get the point? If it wasn't bread, cheese, or meat, odds are I wasn't interested.

When I grew into adulthood and moved out on my own, I decided it was time to let childhood prejudices go. It was embarrassing to ask my mom if she's eat the broccoli off my plate if I ordered the apricot chicken when I was in my 20s.

Still, while I'd shaken off my aversion to veggies like lettuce and celery years before, taking on the broccoli monster still sounded daunting. George H.W. Bush still hated broccoli in his old age, so who said I would be any different?

I came up with a few strategies to overcome my fear of new vegetables. Not every suggestion below is a particularly healthy presentation, but you have to work your way up to being comfortable with eating a vegetable you've loathed for years. You won't win any converts with plain steamed cauliflower.

First, consider "hiding" vegetables. It was easier for me to take on carrots in carrot cake or mixed with shredded cheese on top of my salad. You could purée spinach to mix into meatballs or stir into spaghetti sauce. If the veggie is less visible, it's easier not to think about it.

Don't claim there's no vegetables if you're serving the dish to someone else. They'll feel betrayed just when you want to build trust in your culinary prowess. With this strategy, you're just offering the vegetable in a familiar, likable form, to make the idea of eating it less scary.