If you had to choose just three vegetables...
...you could eat for the rest of your life, which ones would you choose?
And which ones will you not miss at all?
I'll make it both easier and tougher for you: leafy greens, bulbs and herbs don't count as "vegetables" for the purpose of this question (if it seems arbitrary - well, it is), but botanical fruits (such as tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, peppers, etc.) do, along with various roots, flowers, buds, stems and legumes.
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47 Comments:
Well, the one I would not miss at all is beets; I can't stand them. As for the ones I would choose, that's just too dang hard. Now if you want to allow me three per season that I would not give up--I could name those. I just happen to like my veggies, particularly when they are in season!
dhorst at 12:19PM on 01/08/09
I wouldn't want to choose, but if pressed the ones I wouldn't want to lose are:
carrots
tomatoes
edamame
Runners up:
potatoes
beets
broccoli
asparagus
mushrooms
I like corn, but I don't think I'd miss it (other than in ground form for cereals and baking). Ditto sweet potatoes and winter/summer squashes.
Amandarama at 12:25PM on 01/08/09
Phew! At least you are letting me keep onions and kale!
I could never actually do this, but I am going with winter squash, peppers and tomatoes.
KarynMC at 12:29PM on 01/08/09
@dhorst - beetroot is the only one I would not miss at all! I know that choosing just three is very hard - why do you think I excluded herbs, leafy greens and bulbs:-). And it's still near damn impossible!
So I guess I should try and answer my own question:
1. Tomatoes
2. Potatoes (all possible colours and varieties, including sweet:-))
3. It's a toss between peppers, broccoli, cauliflower and asparagus. If pressed to choose just one, I guess I'd go with peppers (again, all possible colours and varieties). But yeah, it would be a very tough life.
brooke29 at 12:33PM on 01/08/09
1. Tomatoes
2. mushrooms (do these count as a veg, or as a fungus?)
3. Peppers (specifically chilies & jalepenos...can do without bells)
very close runner up: zucchini & eggplant
juliebugsmama at 12:51PM on 01/08/09
An onion is a bulb, right? So they don't count? Whew!
Potatoes
Tomatoes
Corn
That said, tnere are many veggies I'd miss, I'd be totally miserable without the three above.
chisai at 12:53PM on 01/08/09
There's no way I'm giving up tomatoes. I think I've got to keep peppers, too. The third one, I'm going to have to think about.
dbcurrie at 12:59PM on 01/08/09
mainly chosen for versatility
tomatoes
peppers (does that mean we can eat ANY kind of pepper?)
potatoes
blankplate at 1:14PM on 01/08/09
Beets, definitely.
Cole crops (broccoli, cabbage, and brussels sprouts as well as most of the leafy greens). -- Come on, they're so closely related they must count as one, right?
Tomatoes.
I could go months without eating a potato, so maybe I could miss that out. And, with money being tight, I don't miss mushrooms as much as I thought I would.
Most of my other favorites are on your "doesn't count" list.
gentlyferal at 1:24PM on 01/08/09
I couldn't live with out onions and potatoes...but other than that I would want to go without
Brussels sprouts
Broccolini
Asparagus...
Love them!
sammie at 1:27PM on 01/08/09
yes to: corn on the cob
asparagus
buttercup squash
no way to: turnip
brussels sprouts
lima beans
NanaJoie at 1:37PM on 01/08/09
I think I'd keep:
tomatoes
peas (which narrowly edged out asparagus for my green veggie, thanks to their freezability)
potatoes - esp if I get all kinds of potatoes.
cyberroo at 1:45PM on 01/08/09
carrots
winter squash
peas
runnereater at 2:59PM on 01/08/09
Top 3 Veggies:
Green Beans, Edamame, baby broccoli
Bottom 3:
Onions, Beets, Taro Root (does that count?)
tambybear at 3:02PM on 01/08/09
mushrooms, tomatoes, mushrooms (since onions and spinach don't count) =)
akk328 at 3:06PM on 01/08/09
tomatoes
onions
potatoes
lakeloverhh at 3:28PM on 01/08/09
tomatoes, potatoes, spinach
blizcheetah at 6:03PM on 01/08/09
darn my reading skills.... replace the spinach with carrots.
blizcheetah at 6:07PM on 01/08/09
tomatoes, mushrooms, cucumbers
I could live without sweet potatoes
CooksForOne at 6:51PM on 01/08/09
Tomatoes, potatoes, and.... green beans, just beating out zucchini.
nightowl at 7:17PM on 01/08/09
Eggplant, tomatoes, carrots!
cochon at 7:21PM on 01/08/09
Tomatoes. Who can actually live a life completely devoid of this vegetable?
I can go without peppers, but not broccoli. Spinach counts as a leafy green, right? Can't live without kale either.
Ok, *deep breaths*: Tomatoes, broccoli, cucumbers.
There. It'd be barely worth living without sweet potatoes, but I could hack it.
Aynsl156 at 7:58PM on 01/08/09
@Aynsl156 - you're right, tomatoes seem to be making almost everyone's list!
brooke29 at 8:08PM on 01/08/09
broccoli, squash, and carrots
foodismyspeciality at 8:10PM on 01/08/09
Ah, but tomatoes are fruit, aren't they? And mushrooms are fungi!
My favorites are zucchini, cauliflower, and parsnips (which I don't have often, but which I adore) and many of my other favorites don't meet your 'specifications' (like leafy spinach).
My least favorite vegetables are peas and corn. Also not crazy about cucumbers.
HeartofGlass at 8:17PM on 01/08/09
@Heart - did you read the rules?:-) Tomatoes count as vegetable here!
brooke29 at 8:24PM on 01/08/09
Oh no, I just reread the question, and beans count. I suppose I'll have to replace green beans with red beans. Can't live without chili, nuh-uh.
nightowl at 8:44PM on 01/08/09
Oh no @Brook29! If I did that, all the others would be mad at me and give me tummy aches. I love them all, and I think they all love me. Don't want to upset that beautiful balance. Forgive me, please?
PerkyMac at 9:58PM on 01/08/09
Aww Perky, how can I not forgive you? Hopefully, the Brussels sprouts I ate tonight didn't hold it against me that I didn't cho-cho-choose them:-)
brooke29 at 10:09PM on 01/08/09
haha Brooke. You're in deep doo doo sh*t trouble!
PerkyMac at 10:22PM on 01/08/09
Easy:
Broccoli
Mushrooms
zucchini
ag3208 at 10:35PM on 01/08/09
Potatos, Tomatos and Peas......NO OKRA
calliope at 10:49PM on 01/08/09
Corn,
Potatos
Cucs.
pjracz10 at 3:49AM on 01/09/09
@brook29--oops! Although I think your rules are pretty weird, given that some fruits are 'in' and some vegetables like spinach are 'out!' ;) I still stand by my choices, however!
HeartofGlass at 9:20AM on 01/09/09
@Heart - oh but that's the beauty of it - my post, my rules:-).
But seriously, before posting this, I actually did some extensive reading on what are vegetables and found that botanically, there is basically no such a thing as a "vegetable". In a culinary sense, a botanical fruit (e.g. tomato or squash or cucumber) is just as much a 'vegetables" as stems (asparagus) or roots (carrots) or buds (Brussels sprouts). So from a culinary point of view, I just excluded 2 "vegetable" groups - leafy greens and bulbs (herbs aren't considered vegetables at all), and included all other ones - roots, flowers, buds, stems, seeds/legumes and yes, botanical fruits. As I said, the "exclusion" was arbitrary (and selfish) - I consider bulbs and leafy greens "basic" groups without which one cannot exist, end of story:-).
brooke29 at 11:12AM on 01/09/09
Regarding seeds and legumes: I guess that is also a different culinary kettle of fish, given that peanuts are legumes, so those who wish to continue to eat peanuts--or sesame seeds, should include them on the 'vegetable' list.
It is true that so many of our food definitions are very much based upon cooking rather than botany--most people don't think of peas, lentils, and peanuts in the same 'category' of their pantry, for example. Although the sweetness of tomatoes and sweet potatoes their use in so many baked goods tend to make them 'straddle the line' a bit more between the veg and fruit divide...
HeartofGlass at 12:51PM on 01/09/09
love eggplant, fresh corn, beets, really good tomatoes from a Farmer's Market--
do not like-store bought tomatoes (tasteless), zucchini and okra- ICK!
Italiancupcake at 4:03PM on 01/09/09
I would have to keep potatoes, asparagus, and squash.
floridagirl at 7:32PM on 01/09/09
would have to keep
eggplant
tomatoes
onions
Did I play buy the rules, cause, right now I'm confused as to what is in and what is out
donnie at 7:59PM on 01/09/09
Tomatoes, asparagus and probably either broccoli or cauliflower would be mine. Although, without legumes (ie kidney and black beans) I'd be pretty screwed since I can't eat meat...
jo_jo_ba at 8:32PM on 01/09/09
Tomatoes, red peppers and corn on the cob.
dmcavanagh at 9:15PM on 01/09/09
onions
tomatoes
potatoes
eatorama at 11:30PM on 01/09/09
zucchini
mushrooms
asparagus
and thanks for leaving garlic out. life wouldn't be worth living without it.
KTempesta at 11:40PM on 01/09/09
@donnie - you get onions "free", so you get to choose another one!
brooke29 at 11:50PM on 01/09/09
sooo hard but I think I'd have to go with cauliflower, cucumbers and zucchini
mayoxqueen at 12:25PM on 01/10/09
Oooh that's hard. If forced to choose, I'd keep sweet bell peppers, artichokes, and sweet potatoes. And I would not remotely miss cauliflower or green peas.
kimberlymac at 2:45PM on 01/10/09
I couldn't subsist on only three veggies. I'd die of starvation as a vegetarian.
My top three veg would have to be tomatoes, corn and carrots, with potatoes and zucchini lurking in the wings. I know as soon as I post this comment, I will have a dozen other essential vegetables I couldn't part with. Mushrooms, olives, cauliflower, eggplant, black beans, avocado....
Three veg that could drop off the face of the earth: okra, beets, brussel sprouts. I dislike onions, but I don't mind if they are in soups, salsas or stews in small amounts. Onions are omitted from the rules, but if they weren't, I still wouldn't want to put them on my verboten list, even though I don't eat them unless they're snuck in my food.
You can't sneak okra, though. Bleh.
tastyfever at 12:18AM on 01/18/09