Top 10 Vegetables You've Never Heard Of

Salsify

This vegetable is a member of dandelion family, it's colored dark brownish black on the outside, with a white creamy inside. This vegetable is perfect for those who love seafood as it has the taste of oysters when cooked. It is typically eaten boiled, mashed, stewed and in soups. Salsify not only produces a starchy root but a purple ornamental flower as well. It is available year round with peak season being October through January. Salsify is high in carbohydrates, low in fat , full of nutrients and low in sodium making it a healthy source of energy.

Yuca Root

This root also called manioc, cassava or brazilian arrowroot is a long brown root vegetable like a potato. The outside texture is very tough and rough and almost always peeled. The inside is white and starchy with very little flavour. This vegetable is used for it’s ability to transform into other forms like flour, shreds and mashed. The leaves of the yuca root are high in protein which provides a decent source of macros from a single plant. The yuca is not only consumed by humans but also a good source of food for cows, goats and sheep.

Tiger Nut

The tiger nut, which is actually a root vegetable, is an ancient superfood from africa. The tiger nut is currently grown in spain and west africa and is also called chufa, nutsedge and nut grass. This nut is full of antioxidants, magnesium, potassium, and fiber. If your diet is low in fiber 1 oz of tiger nuts has 40% of the recommended daily fiber intake.

Mo Qua

This chinese vegetable has the appearance of a cucumber. The outside is hard like a carrot but furry like a kiwi. The inside is smooth and looks like a daikon with similar texture too. You cook it just like you would a daikon or carrot and the texture cooked is about the same. It tastes like daikon but with a strong dose of bitterness.

White Asparagus

This unique variety of asparagus is easy to find in germany, also available in other european countries like spain, france, switzerland and the netherlands. It is low in calories, and high in vitamins and minerals. The reason white asparagus is so common in germany is that many places in germany have sandy soil which provides the perfect conditions for growing white asparagus.

Nopal

This unique vegetable is actually edible pads of cacti. They are made into a salad also served with eggs or meat as a common mexican dish. The Nopal is high in manganese and vitamin c, and contains a good amount of calcium and magnesium as well.

Green Lo Bok

This weird vegetable looks like a field cucumber on the outside but when you slice into it, the appearance is of an orange but green and white. The inside texture feels like a cucumber but more firm, when steamed the green lo bok doesn’t change a lot in texture, it just gets a little bit softer.

Oca

The Oca or New Zealand “apricot” yam is a root vegetable that is grown in central Peru and northern Bolivia. The oca is grown in a unique condition as in grown between 2800 to 4100 meters above sea level which is 9000 to 13500 feet. The oca can be eaten raw, baked, boiled, mashed, roasted or fried.

Romanesco

The romanesco is a cruciferous vegetable that is actually a flower. This unique vegetable taste just as you would guess, a mix of broccoli and cauliflower. They grow year round, are native to Europe and Asia and are a rich source of vitamin C, folic acid, potassium and fiber. What’s really amazing is the Romanesco grows in a perfect fractal which is what makes it so visually stunning to look at.

Fiddleheads

Fiddleheads are a weird vegetable not the average person consumes for dinner. They are consumed in this rolled up state which is this fern at a very young age. Some varieties like the bracken are highly toxic unless cooked thoroughly. They taste like a mix of asparagus, artichoke and pine nuts. The most common types of fiddleheads consumed are Ostrich fern, Lady fern, Cinnamon fern and Royal fern. They are high in nutrients like potassium, phosphorus, iron, magnesium and vitamins A,C and B3.