Poll: What is your favorite vegetable

[jkath]

yes, tomatoes are fruit, as are avocados- I adore them both in any way, shape or form, but they will be in the fruit poll eventually

So, no squash takers yet, eh?

 

[SierraCook]

jkath, I love squash. Especially battered and deep fried, yummy. But I would not say that it is my favorite veggie.

 

[jkath]

Sierra, are there any foods that aren't yummy when deep fried?
I actually had sweet potato french fries tonight that were amazing!

 

[SierraCook]

I had sweet potato french fries once and did not really like them. They were too sweet for me, imagine that.

 

[Barbara L]

To further confuse everyone, I read that tomatoes are actually a berry, as they grow on the ground and fruits grow in trees.

Barbara

 

[SierraCook]

You are right, Barbara. Tomatoes are a fruit and a berry. Berries are classified as fruits. Here is some more info. on the tomato, probably more than we want to know, but interesting reading anyway.

The tomato though commonly classified as a vegetable is really a fruit, a berry in fact. Tomato fruits exibit all of the common characteristics of berries. The fruit develops from the ovary of the flower. The tomato is fleshy due to the pericarp walls and skin. Finally there are several seeds in each tomato. (Weier, et al., 1982)

transverse section of five locule tomato fruit


Tomatoes can be either bilocular or multilocular. Most cultivated varieties except cherry tomatoes have four or five locules. The locules are surrounded by the pericarp. The pericarp includes the inner wall, columella; the radial wall, septa; and the outer wall. The pericarp and the placenta comprise the fleshy tissue of the tomato. The seeds are located inside of the locular cavities and are enclosed in gelatinous membranes. There are vascular bundles throughout the outer wall of the pericarp and travelling from the stem to the center of the tomato and from there radiating to each seed. (Ho and Hewitt 1986)

 

[auntdot]

Andy M and HanArt have a real good point here, IMHO. If we are going to exclude tomatoes, we also should toss out squashes, eggplant, peppers, beans, and peas.


“Botanically speaking, tomatoes are the fruit of a vine, just as are cucumbers, squashes, beans, and peas.” So said the Supreme Court in 1893 (Nix vs. Hedden).


OK, maybe the Supreme Court should not be considered the font of scientific truth, but they were botanically correct, those items biologically represent the fruits of the plants.

However, in that ruling they also went on to state that:

“But in the common language of the people, whether sellers or consumers of provisions, all these are vegetables which are grown in kitchen gardens, and which, whether eaten cooked or raw, are, like potatoes, carrots, parsnips, turnips, beets, cauliflower, cabbage, celery, and lettuce, usually served at dinner in, with, or after the soup, fish, or meats which constitute the principal part of the repast, and not, like fruits generally, as dessert.”

And so the final ruling in the case, which I believe has not been subsequently reversed, is that in the USA, tomatoes, and many botanically classified ‘fruits’, are legally veggies.

(If you are wondering why the Court was bothering itself about such a matter, it seems a Mr. Nix did not want to pay the import duty upon the ‘vegetable’ tomatoes, claiming it was a fruit, which were not taxed. The customs agent, Mr. Hedden, said no deal, and the case eventually went before the high court.)

Sorry about the length of this thing, but I put it in because my favorite veggie is okra.

And I don’t want anyone calling it a fruit, heck, I have the law on my side.

 

[bevkile]

I vote for all of the above plus those not mentioned. Not fond of cooked spinach, collards, kale and etc. I can handle them if mixed in combination with other ingredients. One of my favorite lasagnas is one using spinach and mushrooms substituted for meat, and I am not even a vegetarian.

 

[Raine]

And rhubarb is really a vegetable, not a fruit.

 

[jkath]

And rhubarb is really a vegetable, not a fruit.

That's why it's listed with celery above....


Sierra - that was quite interesting about the tomatoes - I like that kind of stuff.


Aunt Dot: Encarta specifies squash as a vegetable, and I have beans and peas listed as legumes.


(Gee...I didn't mean to start a debate. I wanted to know what people liked better on their dinner plates.)

 

[SierraCook]

jkath, don't worry about starting a debate that is what makes life interesting. It would be a pretty boring life if we all agreed all the time. Keep up the great polls, they are fun!!

I never said what my favorite veggie is. I voted for peppers because of their versatility. What else can you add to stir-fries, put in salsa, add to a frittata, give color to a salad, etc. I had a hard time deciding between them and the root vegetables. Onions are a staple in my house.

 

[jkath]

And, have you ever chopped up a really sweet yellow pepper and added vidalias and strawberries? It's a great relish for chicken! (and it makes for a pretty presentation)

 

[jkath]

OH! I forgot my favorite! I went with roots, because:
A. Potatoes, carrots and onions are so good with any meat
B. I love carbs and eat them.....and eat them.....and eat them.....

 

[HanArt]

Auntdot, too funny!

I still say the tomato is my favorite veggie (I don't care if it is a fruit)!!!

A day's harvest...

 

[crewsk]

HanArt, I'm jealous!! Those are beautiful!!

 

[buckytom]

your tomatoes are bewdies hanart, for so early in the year. the earliest we can get them this far north is around the 4th of july.
( please don't post pictures of your canteloupes or honeydews. i won't be able to resist the obvious jokes...)

 

[kleenex]

I do not think it will be hard to guess what mine is.....

 

[Barbara L]

I love most vegetables. I'm not supposed to eat some of them (anything green and leafy--I love spinach!, corn, broccoli, beets, carrots, beans) but I can't give them up completely! No matter what category they really fall in, tomatoes and avocados are used as vegetables, and I love them both. I eat onions in just about everything, and I love potatoes any way, shape, or form. The only vegetables I really don't like are greens (except spinach and beet greens), turnips, and rutabagas.

Barbara

 

[HanArt]

Barbara, I just discovered rutabagas last year and fell in love! Turned a friend on to them recently. Boiled & smashed with a little butter ... pure heaven!

crew & bucky, if it makes you feel any better that photo was actually taken in early May. My harvest is just about done! Between the heat, stinkbugs, and birds, there's not much left worth harvesting. I'll be pulling most of the plants within the next couple weeks.

 

[cartwheelmac]

Give me leafy veggies!

Cameron