Some people love not chewing. Popular foods are often (not always) mushy foods, think about it. Fast foods and comfort foods are often mushy. Some people hate mushy foods. Some like both.
One day my partner kindly told me why eating raw greens just isn’t her bag. And I never would have guessed the answer because I love chewing and crunching foods (like snap peas, kohlrobi, carrots, celery, etc.). I love the sound, the bursting of flavors, the whole feel of the whole interaction. However like a lot of people, she hates it when it gets all stuck in between her teeth and she has to get it out and just hates knowing that is going to happen. If its not cut small the dressing can get on your face. Many don’t like tearing through fiber and all those “sticks” and strings.
Over many years, we found solutions, for example: green smoothies (high-speed blender), juices (centrifugal juicer), salsas (food processor) and foods like saag (lightly steaming the greens, then blending). A high speed blender will literally spin the nutrients out of the cell walls making them more bioavailable.
Ultimately it’s not so relevant why we dislike a food. What is interesting is when we kindly get in touch with what’s blocking us from a particular vegetable and move on by using creative solutions. Sometimes it’s simple like, I had no idea how flavorful that vegetable was, or how to eat it, or gee my tastes have changed! Pick a vegetable and see if you can peal back its layers, drop the story lines and discover it for yourself. Feel free to leave a comment sharing your story, I’d love to hear your stories.
Tip on getting greens in your life:
So far this summer we have inherited literally pounds of greens from friends with CSAs. CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) often have lots of left overs they want to give away. At one point our house was the pickup point for the neighborhood CSA and whenever someone couldn’t pick up their box that week, we inherited. This year, our CSA is completely paid for by a health insurance benefit. The many pounds of greens that enter our house weekly (what a blessing!) are many more than our household will chew up in one week. However we can juice them, so they don’t go to waste. Juicing is the quickest way to get them into your system.
There are so many discoveries to make. I have so much to learn. The other day a friend of ours pulled an onion right out of the ground, I never saw that before – it was beautiful! We never grew onions in our veggie garden. Green onions are my favorite addition to a salad, now I can picture them growing. She also introduced me to kohlrobi and some variety of a mild radish that was delicious raw.
May you also be able to openly, honestly and kindly find your hang-up with a particular vegetable that has been holding you back. And then, if possible find solutions that work for you and open new doors of nutrients for your miraculous body that carries you through this amazing life.
