Vegetables Category

Vegetables

Vegetables is a catch-all category that includes many of the edible parts of a plant, like stems, roots, flowers, tubers, and leaves. Some biological fruits that aren't very sweet, like tomatoes, squash, peppers, eggplants, and beans, are considered by cooks to be vegetables.

cracked Provencal
These aromatic green olives are marinated in a solution with herbes de Provence.
Learn more
cremini mushroom, baby bella, brown mushroom, crimini mushroom
cremini mushroom
These are closely related to common white mushrooms, but they're a bit more flavorful. Large cremini mushrooms are called portobello mushrooms.
Learn more
cress, curly cress, Garden cress, land cress, upland cress
cress
This is a peppery green that's great in salads, sandwiches, and soups. It's attractive enough to make a good garnish as well. There are several varieties, including watercress, upland cress, curly cress, and land cress. Cress is highly perishable, so try to use it as soon as possible after you buy it.
Learn more
cuaresmeno - fresh
cuaresmeno - fresh
They are moderately hot.
Learn more
cubanelle, Cuban pepper, Friarelli, Green cubanelle, Italian frying pepper
cubanelle
These sweet, mild peppers are usually sold while yellowish-green. They become hotter and redder as they mature.
Learn more
curly endive, chicorée frisée, chicory, chicory endive, curly chicory, frise
curly endive
You can use this crisp, bitter green in salads or cook it as a side dish. The outer leaves are green and somewhat bitter; the pale inner leaves are more tender and mild. Don't confuse this with Belgian endive, which the British call chicory and the French call endive.
Learn more
currant tomato, pimp
currant tomato
These are about half the size of cherry tomatoes.
Learn more
daikon, Chinese radish, icicle radish, Japanese radish, lo bak, lo pak
daikon
Daikon is larger and milder than its relative, the red radish. The Japanese like to grate it and serve it with sushi or sashimi, but you can also pickle it, stir-fry it, or slice it into salads. Japanese daikons tend to be longer and skinnier than their Chinese counterparts, but the two varieties can be used interchangeably. Choose specimens that are firm and shiny. They don't store well, so try to use them right away.
Learn more
daikon sprouts, clover radish, kaiware, radish sprouts, tsumamina
daikon sprouts
These have a pungent, peppery flavor that works wonders for otherwise bland salads and sandwiches. They're too delicate to cook, so always serve them raw.
Learn more
dandelions, dandelion greens
dandelions
Dandelions have a somewhat bitter flavor, which Europeans appreciate more than Americans. Older dandelion greens should be cooked; younger ones can be cooked or served raw as a salad green. They're available year-round, but they're best in the spring.
Learn more
delicata squash, Bohemian squash, sweet potato squash
delicata squash
This is one of the tastier winter squashes, with creamy pulp that tastes a bit like sweet potatoes. Choose squash that are heavy for their size.
Learn more
dragon tongue bean
dragon tongue bean
You can eat these, pods and all, just like green beans.
Learn more
dried eggplant
dried eggplant
Look for these in Middle Eastern markets.
Learn more
dulse, creathnach, dillisk, red dulse, sea lettuce flakes
dulse
This is a salty seaweed, so it makes a great salt substitute in soups and stews. Some people eat it raw, like beef jerky. It's rich in iron.
Learn more
edamame, beer bean, edible soybean, garden soybean, green soybean
edamame
These are fresh soybeans, that are usually sold shelled and frozen, but you can sometimes find them in the produce section, still in their pods. They're rich in protein, fiber, and other nutrients. Fresh edamame pods make great, healthy appetizers. Just steam the pods and have your guests split the pods open and eat the beans inside. Edamame, whether fresh or frozen, is terrific in soups and salads.
Learn more
Eggplants, aubergine, berenjena, brinjal, egg apple, garden egg, Guinea squash
Eggplants
This is a spongy, mild-tasting vegetable that's meaty yet low in calories. It's never eaten raw, but it can be baked, grilled, or sautéed. The best eggplants are shiny, firm (but not too hard), and heavy for their size, with bright green stems and unbroken skin. Smaller eggplants tend to have fewer bitter seeds, as do "male" ones with round scars at their blossom (non-stem) end. (The scars on "female" eggplants look like dashes.) Freshness is important, so don't store eggplants for very long.
Learn more
elephant garlic, great-headed garlic, Oriental garlic
elephant garlic
This looks like an overgrown garlic, but it's more closely related to a leek. It's much milder than ordinary garlic, so it's a good choice if you want to impart the flavor of garlic to a delicately flavored dish. It's often sold in a mesh stocking to keep the cloves together.
Learn more
empeltre olive
empeltre olives
These Spanish black olives are soaked in sherry.
Learn more
endigia, red endive
endigia
This crunchy new French variety blends sweet and bitter flavors.
Learn more
endive
endive
This category includes Belgian endive, curly endive, frisee, and escarole.
Learn more
English cucumber, burpless cucumber, English cucumber, European cucumber
English cucumber
This foot-long slicing cucumber is pricier and less flavorful than other varieties, but it has less conspicuous seeds, a thinner skin, and a plastic wrapper--instead of a wax coating--to improve shelf life. All of this saves preparation time, since there's no need to peel or seed the cucumber before slicing it. This is a good variety if you focused on looks--you can cut it into round, green trimmed slices.
Learn more
enoki mushroom, enok, enokidake, enokitake, futu mushroom, golden mushroom
enoki mushroom
Enoki mushrooms have a delicate fruity flavor. They're usually served raw.
Learn more
escarole, Batavia, Batavian endive, Bavarian endive, broad-leaved endive
escarole
Escarole has sturdy leaves and a slightly bitter flavor. Young escarole leaves are tender enough to add to salads, otherwise escarole is best cooked as a side dish or used in soups.
Learn more
fennel, anise, bulb fennel, finocchio, Florence fennel, garden fennel
fennel
Fennel tastes like licorice or anise, and it's commonly used in Italian dishes. It's very versatile; you can sauté it and add it to sauces, braise it as a side dish, or serve it raw as a crudité.
Learn more
fennel leaves, fennel feathers
fennel leaves
For more information, see the Wegman's Food Market's page on Fennel.
Learn more
fiddlehead fern, fern, fiddlehead greens, lady fern, ostrich fern, pohole
fiddlehead fern
When a fern first emerges from the ground, its uncoiled frond is called a fiddlehead. Edible varieties of fiddleheads include those from the ostrich fern and the less common wood fern. They're available in the late spring and early summer. Select the smallest, freshest-looking fiddleheads you can find. Warning: Fiddleheads from bracken ferns resemble those from ostrich ferns, but are believed to be carcinogenic. Be very careful if you're gathering fiddleheads from the wild. Undercooked ostrich fern fiddleheads also have been linked to some cases of food poisoning.
Learn more
fingerling potato, French fingerling, Russian banana
fingerling potato
There are many varieties of these small, finger-shaped potatoes, but they all tend to be low in starch, and great for roasting or making potato salads.
Learn more
fingerroot, Chinese ginger, Chinese key, ka chai, kra chai, krachai
fingerroot
This ginger relative is popular in Thailand. It resembles long fingers jutting from a hand.
Learn more
flowering kale, flowering cabbage, flowering cole, ornamental kale
flowering kale
This is a beautiful cabbage used more often as a garnish than as a vegetable.
Learn more
fresh beans, shellies, shellouts, shelly beans, shuckies
fresh beans
Fresh beans appear in the summer and fall, and they're sweeter and more tender than dry beans. You don't need to soak them or cook them as long as dried beans, but they often need to be shelled before using. You can usually substitute them with dried beans pound for pound.
Learn more
fresh black-eyed pea, fresh black-eye bean, fresh black-eye pea
fresh black-eyed pea
In their fresh form, black-eyed peas are pale green and have a wonderful, nutty flavor. Unlike dried black-eyed peas, they don't need to be soaked, and they cook much faster. They arrive in markets during the late summer and early fall.
Learn more
fresh cranberry bean, fresh borlotti bean, fresh crab eye bean
fresh cranberry bean
These are available in the summer months.
Learn more
fresh fava bean, fresh broad bean, fresh butter bean, fresh English bean
fresh fava bean
Fresh fava beans are available in the summer and are much better tasting than canned, dried, or frozen ones. Young fava beans need only be shelled, but more mature beans should also be peeled to rid them of the tough, waxy skin that surrounds each bean. The best way to do this is to blanch the shelled beans for a minute in boiling water, plunge them into cold water, and pull off the skins. Select large fava beans that don't have black spots on them, Larger ones are the best. About 400 million people worldwide have favism, an enzyme deficiency. Eating fava beans can cause adverse symptoms in some of them.
Learn more
fresh lima bean, fresh butter bean, fresh Madagascar bean, fresh wax bean
fresh lima bean
These are exquisitely sweet and tender, as long as you get to them soon after they're picked. The freshest pods are brightly colored and snap crisply when you bend them. Fresh lima beans don't need to be soaked and you need only cook them about 15 minutes.
Learn more