Vegetables should be treated as stars on a plate

a short essay on my journey with vegetables + a quick poll

Sometimes I feel that in western cuisines meat is treated as a king whereas vegetables are akin to peasants. We often think of vegetables as the side to the main meat dish, a neutral flavored something to accompany the meat, or perhaps it’s included on the plate so one does not feel bad about not eating any vegetables. I have seen countless plates in American restaurants where vegetables are left behind and discarded by the server. I have also partaken in many house parties or barbecues where vegetables are an afterthought.

In my personal view, vegetables should also be treated like a star, given as much attention as the meat dish, studied and experimented on to determine how best to extract the wholesome, lip-smacking flavors and be prominently featured on every single plate.

That said, I also understand that this is more nuanced than just mere desire.

I recognize I gain my appreciation and love for vegetables due to my upbringing. My immigrant parents came from the land of agriculture where vegetables were seasonally abundant and the cuisine itself is focused on highlighting them, along with the grain, at each meal in nearly all households. Meat, if not a vegetarian household, was eaten once in a while as a special occasion treat (e.g. birthdays, visiting guests, special parties, weddings, etc.). Perhaps that is changing in 2023 but this was ingrained in my parents who then prepared vegetable-centric cuisine for me and my siblings in the US.

On the other hand, I also fully recognize that my peers in the US may not have had such access to fresh vegetables where they grew up and consequently find it challenging to love them or even understand how to prepare them so they really shine. I had heard stories from my friends and colleagues about growing up on meals accompanied by canned spinach and peas and parents forcing them to eat their vegetables. Out of curiosity I tasted these once in college. It was as if the light bulb went off in my head. For the first time ever I realized why my peers would hate vegetables as children and weren’t too fond of them as adults. There was absolutely no flavor in those canned vegetables. In fact, it was layered with a horrid underlying flavor, I would be put off too, especially as a child.

This experience certainly took a chip off my shoulder. Prior to this, my teenager self basked in a moral high ground of loving vegetables as if it it was a matter of my iron will power and a sophisticated palette. I would devour the vegetable-heavy lunches my mom packed for me and feel ‘better than thou’ compared to my high school peers who ate things like bologna sandwiches with potato chips. Thankfully, I never verbalized this!

I think I secretly wanted to eat their food. But I always finished mine because: (a) I was very much afraid of my mom being upset for not eating the lunch she lovingly prepared, (b) once I started eating my own food I genuinely devoured each bite because it was so delicious, and (c) I enjoyed being on my ‘high horse’ of eating healthy nutritious food while my peers did not.

What a delusional and arrogant teenager I was when it came to vegetables! Back then I did not realize that the only reason I could enjoy vegetables was because my parents cooked them in delicious ways throughout my life. I had absolutely nothing to do with it other than devour their labor of love and lick my fingers.

College really humbled me and taught me many lessons. My food life took a 180 degree turn as I moved out of my parent’s home and into a dormitory. My mom’s kitchen producing delicious food was no longer accessible. Instead I had to eat all my meals at the dorm dining halls. The first couple of weeks were exciting! I felt ‘free’ from my parents stronghold (with many things, not just food) and I was excited to eat western food for each meal. I devoured bagels and cream cheese or muffins or donuts for breakfast, meat and cheese laden sandwiches for lunch, and cheesy lasagnas or meat loaf or chicken smothered in a rich sauce for dinner. I drank unreasonable amount of sodas and juices since they were available in unlimited quantities. I never touched any vegetables - they never looked appetizing to me. In a sad corner, the dining halls served veggies like boiled stubby baby carrots that tasted like feet to me, steamed spinach that looked brownish because no one ever touched it, mushy steamed broccoli and the like.

While my spirit felt free and independent eating this food, my stomach quickly did not. I felt constantly bloated, constantly tired, and constantly hungry somehow. I also learned that the ‘freshmen 15’ is a real concept - I gained 20 pounds in the first year of college. But I did not understand why all of this was happening. I did not think I ate more quantities of food per se, I just did not realize that I was eating calorie-rich foods that were not satiating me yet adding to my weight. Unfortunately, at that time, I was not equipped with any nutrition knowledge whatsoever.

In the first semester of year 2, I took an entry level nutrition class because everyone said it would get me an easy A grade and boost my GPA. At this point I had also moved out of the dorm into an apartment I shared with other students. I had a kitchen to cook my own food. The nutrition class was eye opening. I realized that while my immigrant parents did not have the language to articulate nutrition concepts, they were bringing me up with an abundance of healthy food each and every day. My nutrition professor filled the gap in my knowledge. For the first time I learned about carbohydrates, protein, fats, fiber, and how a balanced diet is key to being and feeling healthy. Yes, the class tests were easy and I got my A, but in reality I actually got much more than that. I think the professor did this intentionally. Her real purpose was for young adults to learn about nutrition and be empowered with this information for life. It worked. I started cooking vegetable-centric meals for myself and slowly created a healthy life style that was a fusion of what my upbringing showed me and what my nutrition class taught me.

I wish teaching of these nutrition concepts began in elementary school and continued throughout high school. This is real world knowledge that has a very significant impact on one’s entire life in both directions. Lack of this knowledge can have negative impacts on health for many years or entire life times. Gain of this knowledge can empower individuals to lead a healthy life style and reduce their risks of diseases. I hope the school systems today are incorporating nutrition eduction into their regular curriculum.

These life experiences have inspired me to treat vegetables as the star in a dish. Whenever I get into the kitchen, my first thought is about what vegetable I will cook and how to supplement it with other ingredients or dishes. My Substack page highlights this in many posts. For example, building a vegetable-centric rice and lentil bowl, highlighting cauliflower in a coconut curry or baked dry curry, letting leafy greens really shine in traditional and non-traditional versions of Saag, saving a lone zucchini from going into the trashcan, being drawn-in by the vibrant colors of ratatouille inspired roasted vegetables, zinging up spring asparagus, savoring stinging nettles alongside pasta with an herbaceous green sauce, loading up egg frittatas with as many vegetables as possible like broccoli potato onion or sweet potato or mushrooms, trying new vegetables like kohlrabi even if accompanied an emotional rollercoaster, accidentally upgrading traditional soups, and happily free style cooking my way through any vegetable that comes my way.

I close this essay on my vegetable journey with unlimited gratitude to my upbringing for giving me the best start one could possibly have with vegetables, even if they sometimes challenge me. I am also forever thankful to my nutrition class professor in college who equipped me with basic principles to aspire for a healthy life style. My ultimate hope is that life continues to teach me lessons to strip away my assumptions, prejudices, arrogance and focus that energy on permeating the world around me with productive conversations and ideas, particularly when it comes to vegetables.

Teachers can create defining moments that change the trajectory of your life, in thoughts and in actions, that deserve the utmost gratitude and recognition. My heartfelt thanks.