The Epiphany of Veggies
Weatherly
Composition I

There is a saying that your taste buds develop over time. There is also a saying that you will appreciate things as you get older. There is also that age-old saying that everyone I have ever known has heard at one time or another from their mother, “Eat your veggies”. It is interesting to note how all of these sayings that are so common in our development just happen to ring true. This essay is about that moment of when I found that I really did like veggies. Growing up I couldn’t stand most veggies that my mother served. Outside of corn on the cob, drenched in butter, my mother had a tendency to boil all vegetables to death. I learned that was the way she was taught from her mother so naturally that way was the norm. Broccoli, carrots, and summer squash were all boiled so that they were always limp and drained of the color that proved they were once alive. No cheese sauce on the planet would save these once proud members of the vegetable community. This process was repeated for years until I met my wife. My wife opened my eyes to the fact that veggies didn’t have to be boiled and flavorless. I can remember the day, March 17, 1988 to be exact, when she decided that she would cook for the both of us. She made a simple chicken dish but she also cooked broccoli as a veggie side. At first I was apprehensive, but I told her that I would always try something once just in case I liked it. I never knew that cooked broccoli could have so much flavor. I was amazed by the thought of cooked broccoli that had a crunch and wasn’t a bleached shade of army green but almost evergreen in color. I ate the entire thing of broccoli. We talked about how she was taught to prepare vegetables and she was surprised that I only knew the boiling way. Afterwards she changed my opinion on many vegetables that for years I shunned at the dinner table. I became a veggie eating machine. As much as we all love our mothers to death, it should also be fair to say that not all mothers have learned the trade secrets of cooking. Some do it much better than others and some just don’t know any better. The good thing is that once I had my epiphany that veggies didn’t have to be tasteless, it opened up a whole plethora of possibilities for the veggie side selection for dinner. Now I enjoy vegetables much more and as I mentioned in the beginning, now that your taste buds have developed and we can appreciate things since we are older, go eat your veggies!