Log into your account

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Our Food
  • How It Works
  • Food Waste
Get started for free
  • Tips & Guides
  • Recipes
  • Featured Food
  • Food Waste Movement
  • About Imperfect
Not a member yet?
Get started for free
Log into your account
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Our Food
  • How It Works
  • Food Waste
  • Blog
  • Tips & Guides
  • Recipes
  • Featured Food
  • About Imperfect
  • Food Waste Movement
  • Sign Up
  • FAQs
  • Impact
  • Refer a Friend
  • Careers
  • Contact Us
Tips & Guides

How to Cook with 5 Lesser-Known Fruits and Vegetables

Cooking with a seasonal produce box is a lot of fun because every week is different. While this keeps you on your toes as a cook and forces you to learn new things, we also realize that it can be overwhelming. Who has the time to look up every new piece of produce in their box? Here’s a primer on 5 of our favorite types of produce that you might be less familiar with:

  1. Romanesco: This gorgeously symmetrical cousin of broccoli looks like someone asked Leonardo Da Vinci to design a vegetable, but it’s actually very easy to cook with. Use it as you would use broccoli. It’s excellent roasted or sauteed and pairs well with Mediterranean flavors like garlic, oregano, and lemon juice!
  2. Collard Greens: Widely loved in the South, these greens don’t always get the love they deserve elsewhere, which is a shame because they’re as delicious as they are hearty and healthy. They’re members of the brassica family (along with romanesco and kale), which means they have a similar nutty flavor and are jam-packed full of vitamins C, K, and A, plus minerals like manganese and lots of healthy fiber. We love them cooked down in winter stews or sautéd with some onions, cider vinegar, smoked paprika, and tomato paste. You can also take out the ribs and use them as a healthy wrap for other food!
  3. Daikon: This intimidatingly large root is nothing more than an oversized radish (the name literally means “big radish” in Japanese). This makes it a great value. Just one daikon goes a long way, and they also happen to be packed with minerals like magnesium and a surprising amount of vitamin C, like enough to make oranges jealous. We love daikon pickled alongside our Imperfect carrots, which makes a great topping for sandwiches, tacos, and rice bowls!
  4. Persimmons: They look like orange tomatoes but they’re actually wonderfully complex fruits. Make sure to brush up on the differences between the two main types: Fuyus and Hachiyas. Fuyus are great eaten raw or added to salads or desserts. Hachiyas are excellent in baked goods and puddings!
  5. Watermelon Radishes: It’s no secret that we’re straight up Beyoncé crazy in love with watermelon radishes. In addition to being beautiful enough to deserve their own episode of “Planet Earth,” watermelon radishes provide wonderful color, texture, and flavor contrast to salads. We love them thinly sliced on top of rice or tacos as well as pickled!
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

guest

5 Comments
Oldest
Newest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Dan Fost
Dan Fost
7 years ago

Re: We love daikon pickled alongside our Imperfect carrots, which makes a great topping for sandwiches, tacos, and rice bowls!

That sounds great – do you have any recipes you recommend? Your post says "How to Cook" – so how do I cook with it?

Reply
John Zamora
John Zamora
7 years ago
Reply to  Dan Fost

Hey Dan! We love this daikon pickle recipe from Serious Eats:
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2013/02/pickled-daikon-and-carrot-do-chua.html
Let us know what you think!

Reply
katy oneill
katy oneill
7 years ago

I loved the romanesco that came a few weeks ago. First time I’d had one, and man was is good! Even the leaves surrounding it were delicious! I can’t wait for you to have more.

Reply
Reilly Brock
Reilly Brock
7 years ago
Reply to  katy oneill

Hey Katy! This is so great to hear. Romanesco is a seriously underrated vegetable and we’re so glad to hear that you’re loving cooking with it! ????

Reply
Midge Constantino
Midge Constantino
7 years ago

I love trying fruits or vegetables I’ve never tried before, and you’re right sometimes it can get pretty overwhelming. So thank you for the wonderful tips!

I’ve come to love collard greens :). They are full of vitamins and a great source of calcium too! Here’s one of my fave recipes to use them in:

https://www.thefullhelping.com/peanutty-stewed-black-eyed-peas-collard-greens/

Reply
Tagged Ingredient guides

You might find these a-peel-ing

Composting
How to Reduce Food Waste: an I...
What do you get when you gather a whole team of foodie fanatics and sustainabili...
Read more
Storage tips
So Fresh and So Green, Green: ...
We’ve all been there: you buy a beautiful head of lettuce or a box of spring mix...
Read more
Storage tips
The Imperfect Foods Grocery St...
Storing your groceries properly is one of the best ways to make them last and st...
Read more
Waste-less tips
But did you smell it first? Ho...
When we look at food waste in our homes, the two main causes of waste are buying...
Read more
Ingredient guides
When are avocados in season?
Learn when avocados are in season so you can know where your current batch is li...
Read more
Back to Tips & Guides

Want olive the latest?

Sign up for emails to stay up to date.

ImperfectFoods Logo
B Certificate Logo
  • Sign Up
  • FAQs
  • Impact
  • Refer a Friend
  • Careers
  • Contact Us
Download on the App Store Badge Download on the Google App Badge
Imperfect Foods © 2025. All Rights Reserved
Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy | Do Not Sell My Personal Information