If you ever thought food couldn’t get controversial, you couldn’t be more wrong. Food might be sustenance, it might be comforting and it might be a source of love. There are some items, however, that will inspire the exact opposite reactions in a lot of people.
Most of these maligned foods, though not pretty, are often good for you, and maybe even tasty if you can give them a chance!
10 Broccoli
Ah, broccoli, the appointed villain in many kids' shows or games. In America, broccoli is pretty widely hated, especially among the younger crowd, and in a certain way, that’s pretty unfair. Sure, steamed, underseasoned broccoli isn’t the most appetizing dish you could whip up, but there are so many ways to make the broccoli delicious: fried in butter, roasted with garlic, in the body of a hearty stew, or baked in a quiche, just to name a few basic examples. Full of vitamins and come on, resembling tiny little edible trees, how cute is that, it’s high time we cut broccoli some slack.
9 Onions
Onions are quite the divisive bit of food. Stingy, sharp, and definitely versed in making grown adults cry, many people despise the onion. What’s funny, though, is that onions and garlic are the base of flavor for 99% of the dishes we know and love, not to mention they’re full of nutrients and antioxidants; throughout history, they’ve even been utilized as medicine! But even its importance on our everyday menu can’t make some folk get over the texture and sharpness of this maligned veggie. Cooking it till softness can help in the consumption of onions by those of the adverse opinion.
8 Brussel Sprouts
Looking somewhat like tiny green brains, Brussel sprouts have long been derided at the family dinner table. They’re kinda like cabbages, but taste pretty bitter and smell funny, all in all, an off-putting composition. But Brussel sprouts are a great source of fiber, and cooking them in more creative ways like roasting them with bacon or nuts can make for a balanced and fulfilling side dish.
7 Okra
Okras are a little bit like if a green bean and slime had a baby. Hard to cook in the right way and easily tasting like alien tentacles, even their vaguely star-like shape can’t save okras from being a pretty hard sell among people, despite their nutritious benefits. To diminish its slimy texture, try cooking okras in high heat - not medium!-, or frying/grilling them instead of cooking.
6 Turnips
Excluding maybe Rapunzel’s mother, turnips are no one's favorite root veggie. Neither golden nor soft like potatoes, it lives in the eternal shadow of its infinitely more popular cousin, despite the fact it has just as many benefits and half of the potatoes' calories. Boiling them and mixing them up with potato dishes or in stews and soups are a nice way of incorporating turnips into your diet.
5 Raisins
Take grapes, but make them tiny, wrinkled, and sourer. That’s the philosophy behind raisins, and it's no wonder they’re not a hit with the younger folk. Despite this, raisins had their day in the sun, being a part of many popular past desserts, so it's definitely a divisive one.
4 Blue Cheese
Blue cheese is certainly not for everybody. The fact that its strong flavor is a result of months of careful mold growing inside the cheese doesn’t really help its case for some, but it is quite nutritious and has a lot of calcium. Good for your bones! Check out the right combinations for blue cheeses to try to enjoy its tangy flavor.
3 Anchovies
Anchovies are neither popular nor pretty; it’s hard to find someone who is inspired by a jar of steel gray big-eyed fishes staring right through you. But anchovies have long been the base for many different broths and sauces, pizza and salad toppings, and can promote health benefits if consumed in moderation.
2 Olives
Another polemic and divisive player, olives have as many haters as they have lovers, if the pile of olive slices frustratedly pulled off of pizzas, pastries, salads, and sandwiches is anything to go by. Olives are actually a fruit and have numerous health benefits. But for the slightly bitter taste haters, here's the good news: olive oil retains a lot of those benefits and can be infinitely tastier and more subtle.
1 Candy Corn
To add a little spook, we’re giving candy corn a special most-hated Halloween-candy category in our most hated foods list. This orangeade tricolor triangle might be a marker of the autumnal season and Halloween celebrations, but its waxy texture and taste don’t do it favor when it's side by side with more appealing candy bars. Still, it’s a classic for a reason, and sometimes, on special occasions, the need for unorthodox candy simply must be satisfied.
