America's Favorite Vegetable is.... Cookbook winner announced

Summer Squash!!

Congratulations Jana G you won the Vegetables Get The Royal Treatment Cookbook giveaway!

Here are your random numbers:

95

Timestamp: 2009-08-18 01:04:16 UTC

This giveaway made me so hungry! I read the 215 comments and wanted to taste many of your favorite veggies fixed your favorite way. I was happy to see the variety of veggies favored. Spring's first asparagus with poached egg, steamed artichokes, fried okra, tomatoes still warm from the sun, sugar snap peas plucked from the vine, spinach wilted with onions, roasted cauliflower, swiss chard with butter, raisins and pine nuts, mashed butternut squash, I could go on and on and on. See the whole list if you're curious what 210 people's fave veggies are.

There were a few surprises.
Like Summer Squash. Zucchini and Yellow or "Crooked Neck" squash was the most favored veggie of this group, 16% of respondents choose zukes! Maybe it's my own bias against the summer squash which led to my surprise. I used to like summer squash, but in the past couple years I've not really enjoyed it, despite preparing it in many ways. I still enjoy it in veggie soup or shredded and cooked with onions in a egg scramble, but that's it. I still eat it, and tell the boys when I eat it, "Hmm, I must be on a summer squash break, because this is not my favorite right now." I do believe the results were skewed because about half the folks that chose summer squash preferred it in sweets like bars, breads and cakes, OR hidden in some kind of casserole or stuffing dish. So it wasn't necessarily favored because the taste was enjoyable, but rather "ignorable" in dishes with a large number of ingredients. The other skew could be that we're smack in the middle of summer squash season, it's on sale, or plentiful in the garden, so it's possible that it's just fresh on the mind. Lastly, I think herd mentality might have something to do with it. Voters may have been swayed by reading other people's votes and having the same voice. Or maybe I'm wrong, and zucchini really is America's favorite vegetable.

Potatoes were only chosen by less than 2%, and lettuce or salad less than 1 %. That surprised me because potatoes and lettuce are the top two selling produce items in our country. No doubt the restaurant industry factors in for the majority of the consumption in french fries, mashed potatoes and salads that come free with meals. But since those veggies are widely eaten in restaurants it would follow that they are the ones preferred by many in our homes. Exposure and opportunity has a lot to do with favorite foods. The more practice or "opportunity" you have with a certain food, the more likely you are to eat it or enjoy it.

Broccoli 13% and Asparagus 10% were the next two highest faves after Zukes. That was good news since both are in the super green category, which means they are nutrient dense, containing lots of vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, antioxidants, etc. I was surprised Green Beans didn't have a higher showing, only 4 %. I would have thought they would be sitting in the first or second chair for most loved super green.

Carrots were another mystery. Like the green bean, only 4% chose carrots. I would have thought the widely available baby carrots in various snack sizes, large bags, organic, regular, on veggie trays, etc. would have made this crunchy sweet root vegetable snag more votes.

Hubby was perplexed the tomato, not quite 4% didn't top the list, as in his words "everything that tastes great has tomatoes in it. " I could have said the same thing about onions, which only made it tops for 2% of folks.

Celery only got one vote! Not that it's my favorite, but it's a regular on veggie trays, somebody's gotta be eating it....

The Not Surprising
Corn was is the top 4 with almost 9%.

Beets, swiss chard, kale, cabbage, beet greens and butter beans all failed to make even one half a percent.

Thanks to all of you who voted, and to the Veggie Queen for offering a helpful seasonal cooking resource for vegetables.

What did I do with my veggies tonight? I took the left overs from hubby's birthday meal at benihana and made fried rice. To the onions and rice I added some finely chopped ginger, carrots, green peas, three eggs and some additional rice to bulk it up a bit. Made very tasty "left overs" but then again I'm a sucker for fried rice.