(If you like ... then you’ll like)

As vegetables increase in popularity, the chefs of the world have become bolder

about including more unorthodox additions to their meat-free menus. This might mean seeing things at restaurants that you want to try, but you’re not sure if you’d enjoy. To that end, Rebecca Tucker put together a little guide to some of the newer from-the-earth flavours popping up at dinnertables. It’s nothing too

fancy, but if you start here, your palate should be broadened in no time!

Garlic

... and who doesn't? This tasty, bulbous allium is integral to so many dishes around the world, as it forms both a solid flavour base and elevates recipes far beyond the bland. It also has serious history: humans have been using garlic for culinary purposes for more than 7,000 years.

Zucchini

Few things grow so prodigiously in the harvest season as zucchini, that green, fleshy, summertime squash with the sweet, slightly earthy flavour. But if next year you finally grow tired of it after weeks and weeks of zucchini fries, omelettes, pastas and sandwiches, try ...

Turnips

Or, OK, if you can TOLERATE them. Turnips have gotten a bad rap, probably due to childhood memories of overcooked, boiled-to-death white mush. When done well — lightly roasted, say, with some grainy mustard — they can be delicious.

Broccoli

For whatever reason, broccoli has maintained a reputation as the least kid-friendly vegetable there is, perhaps second to brussels sprouts. But you are an adult! You know that this tasty, gently bitter brassica goes just as well in stir-fries as it does in soups, and you’re not afraid to eat it raw, floret to stem (seriously: EAT THE STEM).

Black-eyed peas

Technically a legume, the black-eyed or cowpea is a staple in the cuisine of the Southern United States and best known there as the cornerstone ingredient of Hoppin’ John, a traditional dish made of black-eyed peas, rice and pork. Black-eyed peas are cultivated globally, and feature in dishes from Trinidad and Tobago to India.

Chard

The leafy green has less bite than kale or collards, making it slightly more versatile and — if you like your greens on the milder side — much more widely appealing.

Potatoes

You know what a potato is. You know what it tastes like. You like it. Don’t even pretend.

Carrots

Believe it or not, carrots aren’t for everybody, since they’ve awfully sweet for a vegetable. But if you do love them — and eat them often — don’t just do it because they’re good for your eyes: as a Washington Post story reported last year, the myth that carrots improve your vision can be traced to British Second World War pilot Flight Lieutenant John Cunningham, whose own eagle eyes were thought to be the result of his affection for the long, orange root.

Frisée

Itself something of a contemporary addition to ordinary restaurant menus, frisée is that curly, slightly bitter stuff you often find in your side salad or spring mix. It’s also called curly edive (as it is a member of the endive family of lettuces) and holds up well against warm salad dressings (particularly ones containing bacon, whose smoke and salt pairs well with frisee’s crisp bitter flavour).

Parsley

It’s not just a garnish! Parsley is fresh and flavourful, and is wonderful tossed in salads of all types, from leaf lettuce to potato. It’s the star of tabbouleh, the Middle Eastern bulgur salad, and a key ingredient in British chef Fergus Henderson’s iconic roasted bone marrow dish, which he serves at St. John with a salad of parsley, shallots and capers dressed with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

... Garlic scapes

Scapes actually grow from garlic bulbs: they’re bright green, twisted shoots that poke above ground in the springtime, when garlic bulbs planted the previous fall begin to grow into new plants. They’re milder than garlic bulbs and can be eaten raw, but they’re still very pungent: often, scapes will be puréed, used as garnish, or turned into pesto, imparting garlicky flavour alongside springy green.

... Pattypan squash

This summer squash grows on a plant that looks similar to the zucchini plant (as do many summer squashes and, indeed, winter ones), but the vegetable itself couldn’t look more different: it’s round, usually yellow, and has a frill around its middle, giving the impression of a gardengrown spaceship. Its flavour is milder than that of a zucchini, and its skin a bit tougher, but it can be used in many of the same preparations.

... Kohlrabi

But not as delicious as kohlrabi, yet another slightly extraterrestrial vegetable. Unlike the turnip it’s not a root, but it has similarly white, crunchy flesh that (in my opinion) is best eaten raw: if you’ve ever eaten a broccoli stem, this is basically an entire vegetable made out of that crisp, refreshing taste and texture.

... Rapini

Rapini is also a member of the brassica family, and also known as or broccoli rabe. Compared to broccoli proper, it is deeply, deliciously bitter — and for that reason is best eaten cooked, as heat helps temper its bite. It is widely used in Italian cuisine, often simply sautéed with oil, garlic and chilies.

.. Mung beans

Also technically a legume, mung beans are common in Indian and Chinese cuisine, where they are used in both sweet and savoury preparations. Don’t be intimidated if you find them in their pods, which is common in some Indian dishes: they’re edible!

... Radish greens

SO if mild greens are your thing radish greens might be, too! These are exactly what they sound like: the green shoots and leaves that grow out the top of radishes. Cut them off and rinse them VERY well, as they tend to be quite sandy, then cook them as you would chard or other mild greens, like bok choy.

... Jerusalem artichokes

Also known as sunchokes, these knobby little roots are nuttier than potatoes, and also more silken when puréed. But be warned: eat too many of them, and you’ll quickly learn where they get their crude nickname, “fartichoke.”

... Purple carrots

They don’t taste as different as they look! Purple carrots are welcome additions to chefs’ repertoires because they are really quite beautiful: cut open, purple (and red) carrots often reveal brilliant yellow or white centres. And they’re slightly less sweet than regular ol’ orange carrots, to boot!

... Radicchio tardivo

While Treviso radicchio — the deep burgundy chicory favoured in Northern Italian cooking — is now more commonly found in grocery stores as well as restaurant menus, this gnarled, twisted, mostly white cousin is still a rarity. It shouldn’t be: it’s more bitter than Treviso (and MUCH more bitter than frisée), but when cooked or grilled has more umami than any vegetable ought to. (Risotto prepared with radicchio tardivo is this writer’s all-time favourite meal; if you’re making it for dinner, I’ll bring the wine).

... Celery leaves

Don’t throw them away! The leaves that sometimes come with your bunch of celery have plenty of bite, and can be used in many of the same ways as parsley: as garnish, in salad, or even whipped into a pesto with pine nuts, olive oil and good Parmesan cheese.