To think green beans are just the most revolting vegetable

[AngeloMysterioso]

They manage to be tough, stringy and weirdly spiky all the at the same time and they have the flavour of a chewed pencil. There is literally no dish I can think of that is enhanced by their presence. They’re the unpleasant bastard cousin of sugarsnap peas and mangetout.

ETA- by green beans I mean runner beans. Just in case there’s any confusion

AIBU?

Agree. My husband loves them, can’t get my head around it after 35 years 😁

Sugar snaps and mangetout as well. The strings. Yuk.

Celery is funny stuff because it's very dull when eaten raw but it adds loads of flavour to casseroles.

Surprised at the hate for peas, I always thought they are fairly inoculous vegetables that even fussy children eat.

Fennel, I always use the Jane Grigson recipe when it's roasted with loads of parmesan, butter and pepper. Absolutely delicious then.

Love brassicas, beans, beetroot, rocket, courgette, cucumber. I'd say jerusalem artichokes are more challenging than most of the veg on here, they have a strong flavour and give you smelly farts. Still like them though but TBH I can't think of a single vegetable I don't like. You just need to experiment with different ways of cooking it.

Brussel Sprouts are far worse. They stink.

I hated them until I ate them in the US, where they are completely different and delicious. Apparently the stringiness is a) only common to particular variants more common in Europe which have been bred out in the US and b) increases the longer the bean stays on the runner - so picking young is better.

Runner beans get stringy and tougher when they get older, they're best eaten young if you're growing them yourself. If you get them from the supermarket then you need to de-string them just in case. If you slice the top mostly across and then pull down the side that's where the stringy bit is and it will all come away in a long strip. If you find a stringy one then slice it more thinly as it is likely to be older and tougher.

There is something very satisfying about de-stringing runner beans IMO 😂.

Green beans are lovely.

Aubergine and courgette, however, are rank.

I love them.
Try Madhur Jaffrey's Gujarati beans. cathyingeneva.wordpress.com/2022/03/22/gujarati-style-green-beans-madhur-jaffrey-easy-peasy-i-mean-beansy/

Everyone saying peas are horrid: it's because frozen or tinned, they truly are. Fresh picked when you've grown them yourselves, and they are sweet and incredibly delicious. I thought I didn't like peas until I grew my own and discovered Birds Eye have been lying to us all for years...

I love all the vegetables people are hating here! I can’t really think of a veggie I don’t like, except mushrooms but not technically veg. I wouldn’t pick runner beans above other veg but I’d eat them if served them.

You are being so unreasonable. Beetroot is absolutely the most revolting vegetable.

@ThreeTescoBags you beat me to it. Excellent description for a vile vegetable 🙌🏻

I love green beans, mangetout etc and most of the stuff mentioned on here tbh.

Hate cucumber although oddly I don't mind it in a cheese sandwich.

Peas are a weird one- I like them on their own or as a pea soup but I can't stand them in a sauce, especially a tomato based one.

But I can't understand why asparagus is seen as some sort of elite vegetable, it barely tastes of anything and I just don't get the parma ham combination, I don't think they complement each other.

Kale is a bit shit too. I remember when there was a craze for 'kale crisps' - I tried making them and have never been more disappointed with something!

This

Broad beans and aubergine....not together.

Green beans actually need to be boiled for quite a long time.

Not if you grow your own, you can pretty well eat them uncooked.

I like most of the vegetables already mentioned, especially fennel and aubergine, but okra (ladies fingers) was created by Satan! 🍆 🥒 🫒 🥑

It tastes like soap!

Mangetout make me gag - those stringy bits!

Op, it sounds like someone has cooked you some stringy old runner beans that were well past their best. Supermarket beans are generally not nice.

French beans should be crisp, sweet, not stringy or spiky at all. Pick them, drop them in boiling water for 3 minutes and then eat them with pork chops or good sausages. Or in a salad with mozzarella, home grown tomatoes, olives and vinaigrette.

Runner beans should be picked and cooked very young, not the elderly monsters in Tesco.

Anyone complaining of stringy bits in peas or beans isn’t preparing them properly.

The-only inedible vegetable is swede

Mangetout shouldn’t have stringy bits.

🤣

I don't mind green beans in stuff, not keen on their own. They need gravy, at least. I prefer them well-cooked, and definitely agree frozen are actually nicer than fresh, weirdly.

Celery is revolting, and the worst thing about it is it's often in dishes but not mentioned... but you can still taste it! Ugh.

Not keen on cucumber, beetroot or aubergine either. I will tolerate them but in small pieces and I would never choose to eat them.

LOVE peas, and really love all brassicas (so long as they're well cooked). Roasted sprouts are one of my favourite foods. Love mushrooms, broccoli, carrots, all root vegetables but especially parsnips, and asparagus in season is amazing. And onions! Onions are the best vegetable, they make everything else taste better.

I’m confused about what you’re doing with green beans to make them spiky. Also the worst vegetable is clearly celeriac, which combines the worst parts of celery and root vegetables in one dreadful package.

I can't believe we've got this far down the thread without someone mentioning the work of the devil himself - mushrooms?! Slimy, foul-smelling, grey... Never been able to understand their popularity.

Green beans though I quite like - they're surprisingly nice in a curry.