15 Fruits & Veggies That I Loathed As A Kid But Love Now

Why I loathed them: Um, their husk is covered in spikes and resembles Bowzer's shell, so is it any wonder?  It also didn't help that my mother told me that when her childhood classmates misbehaved in class, their teachers would make them kneel on durian shells.  Appearance aside, it emitted an odor that I found to be putrid and the mushy texture to be gross.

Why we're having a love affair now: I've grown to really appreciate everything that I once hated about it -- the taste, texture, and smell.  Now I want to have it all the time, particularly the "golden pillow" variety, named so because it has a much smaller seed than other varieties of durian.  It's also very sweet.

Favorite way to nosh on them: Great on their own, and really, really good in a smoothie.  I've also enjoyed durian ice cream and popsicles, durian cakes, and durian filling in cream puffs.

Why I loathed them: They're hard and don't really have much of distinctive, delicious taste.  Even when adults tried to entice me into those cute baby carrots, I just wasn't having it.  Something else that didn't help was that I heard that people who ate too many carrots would turn orange.  Not wanting to turn orange was a darn good excuse not to eat carrots.

Why we're having a love affair now: I've really grown to appreciate carrot juice and now I often buy Costco-sized bags of carrots for juicing.  It's one of my favorite vegetables to juice now as it has subtle hints of sweetness that goes really well with fruit.  It's also a great, low-calorie, healthy food to dip in hummus, baba ganoush, and many other dips.

Favorite way to nosh on them: As I mentioned, they're tasty juiced or to use as a dipping device.  I also love carrot cake, carrot and raisin salad, carrot puree, and carrots in soups.

Why I loathed them: I always saw potatoes as a savory food, so to have it sweet really threw me off.  It was strange to have a powdery root plant that was slightly sweet.  And then I found out that sweet potatoes and potatoes aren't even in the same botanical family!

Why we're having a love affair now: They're so tasty!  They're also a great source of energy since they're full of healthy calories and carbs.  I love having a chunk or two before I go running or to the gym.

Favorite way to nosh on them: My favorite variety of sweet potato is the Japanese Satsuma ones.  I steam them and eat them as is.  They're very easy to peel once steamed.  I tend to steam them in batches, so I'll eat one fresh and hot out of the steamer, and the rest, I put into the fridge.  When I'm craving them, I can just pull them out of the fridge and eat it cold.  It's seriously like having ice cream.  Seasoned with spices and vanilla or not, they're great mashed up like potatoes.  They're also fantastic as a pie filling -- just use a pumpkin pie recipe.  They can also be used in savory dishes, like curry.

Why I loathed them: This is another root plant that I didn't learn to appreciate as a child.  Taro has an even chalkier texture than potatoes, no real taste when it's chewed on, yet oddly, leaves a strange aftertaste.

Why we're having a love affair now: Two words: boba drinks.  Granted it's an artificial flavor, it got me used to the idea of consuming taro.  Now I much prefer the real thing over artificially flavor taro foods.  Great in savory dishes, and I also love it in dessert, like steamed taro pudding.

Favorite way to nosh on them: Taro is very versatile and is great in both sweet and savory dishes.  In savory dishes, they're a great complement to meat dishes when cubed and sauteed in savory sauces, or mashed up, rolled into balls, breaded, and deep fried as a dim sum dish.  They can also be deep fried for chips and fries.  In sweet dishes, it's so delicious in ice cream and frozen yogurt, and in other Asian desserts.  They also make for great smoothies.

Why I loathed them: The mushy green flesh just looked really unappealing.  Plus, it had an aftertaste that I found odd.  It's tragic that I didn't like this as a child because I grew up with a huge avocado tree in my backyard that bear plenty of fruit.  Random fact, but did you know that the avocado is actually considered a berry?

Why we're having a love affair now: My mother turned me onto avocados by mashing them up with ice cubes and condensed milk for a tasty dessert.  In terms of liking avocado in savory dishes, I started liking avocado after having guacamole.  Plus, they're chalked full of healthy fats that when eaten in moderation, are great for your skin, heart, and overall health.

Favorite way to nosh on them: It's a bit much to eat on its own, but with the right complementary ingredients, it can be delicious.  Avocado+Tomato=Always a winning combination.  I use them in place of wet ingredients like butter and mayonnaise in sandwiches.  It's also great in guacamole, salsa, ceviche, and seafood tartares.  For dessert, they make for fantastic ice cream, smoothies, and as I mentioned earlier, tasty with condensed milk, or even sugar if that's all you have.