Stick With What You Know

Sometimes new to us foods can be intimidating. We aren’t sure how to cook it or what it’s going to taste like so we avoid it. I’ve done it plenty of times. It’s the:

“I have no idea what that is so I’m not going to eat it.” Syndrome.

It can be a hard thing to overcome especially when dealing with someone who isn’t keen on trying anything new. I know you know someone like that. They just assume they aren’t going to like something and that something usually involves a vegetable of some kind.

Frustrating, right?

The best way I’ve found to combat this, this works on myself AND when I’m trying to get others to try something new, is to prepare the new item in a way that is familiar.  If it’s prepped in a way that we are accustomed to, we are more willing to enter the situation with an open mind.

For example, whenever I get a new veggie, after looking up a few ways to prepare it online, I generally end up roasting it. Roasted veggies are my favorite and by roasting a new veggie it’s presented in a familiar and likable way. Plus it allows me the chance to taste the veggie a little more naturally before I start experimenting with it.

I apply this technique to greens as well.  My favorite way to have greens is in soup or in a sauce. Whenever I get a new green, I will either add it to a soup or sautee it up and make a sauce to top some pasta.  Since these are things that are familiar to me, the dish is automatically more comfortable and I’m more willing to keep an open mind about the new item.

New flours? I try and make some pancakes or cookies out of them.  I love pancakes! And pancakes are a great way to experiment with flour.

When things are familiar they are comfortable and when we’re comfortable we are more likely to be accepting of new things. So give something new a try and see what happens!

2 thoughts on “Stick With What You Know

  1. I’ve found over the last few years that I like a lot of things I didn’t like when I was younger. (There are still things, like turkey, that I do not like, no matter how many different people tell me, “Oh, you just haven’t tried MINE!”) Things like salmon and asparagus.. I hated them until a couple of years ago, and now, they’re two of my favourite foods. I’m always willing to try new stuff (yes, even turkey) because my taste buds have changed.

  2. That’s how my husband and I got to like tofu after a couple meh attempts – I made it in a spicy stirfry where I might normally use chicken instead, something we do freqently, and now we love it!

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