Aren't they ALL Veggies

Wait… Aren’t They ALL Vegetables?

My Extremely Necessary Guide to Less-Starchy and More-Starchy Vegetables

I have discovered another flaw in the vegetable classification system.

Apparently, when someone tells me: “Eat more vegetables!” there is information missing from that sentence. Because vegetables are not all nutritionally interchangeable. I feel this should have been mentioned earlier.

For example:

Zucchini? Vegetable.

Green beans? Vegetable.

Potato? Vegetable.

Corn? Vegetable.

But if I’m paying attention to carbohydrates and blood glucose, eating a cup of zucchini is not the same thing as eating a cup of potatoes.

Which leads me to today’s episode of:

WHY DIDN’T ANYONE EXPLAIN THIS TO ME LIKE A NORMAL PERSON?

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There Are Basically Two Teams

For my purposes, I’ve started thinking of vegetables as belonging to two broad groups:

🥒 TEAM LESS STARCHY

These are the vegetables I can generally let occupy a generous portion of my plate.

Things like:

• Zucchini
• Yellow squash
• Green beans
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Mushrooms
• Spinach
• Kale
• Bok choy
• Asparagus
• Cabbage
• Cucumbers
• Bell peppers
• Tomatoes
• Eggplant
• Celery
• Lettuce and other leafy greens

These vegetables generally contain fewer carbohydrates and calories per serving than the starchier crowd. They’re also wonderful for adding volume, fiber, vitamins, minerals and—very important in my household— things to chew. I have learned that I like food with some substance.

A bowl of liquid vegetables leaves me looking around afterward wondering when lunch is being served. Give me green beans, mushrooms and chicken that require actual participation from my teeth? Now we’re talking.

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🥔 TEAM MORE STARCHY

Then we have vegetables that contain considerably more carbohydrate.

Examples include:

• White potatoes
• Red potatoes
• Purple potatoes
• Sweet potatoes
• Purple sweet potatoes
• Corn
• Green peas
• Winter squash such as butternut and acorn squash
• Plantains

These foods aren’t bad. Let me repeat that because nutrition discussions have a tendency to become criminal trials:

THEY ARE NOT BAD FOODS.

They’re simply foods I count differently when I’m putting together a meal. They provide valuable nutrients, fiber and all sorts of useful plant compounds. But because they’re higher in carbohydrate, they can affect blood glucose more than my non-starchy vegetables.

So instead of thinking: “I ate a vegetable.”

I think: “This is the carbohydrate/starchy part of my meal.”

That’s a distinction I can actually use.

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Corn, We Need to Talk

Corn has caused some confusion in my life, because corn absolutely comes from a plant. It’s nutritious. It contains fiber and other nutrients. And depending on when it’s harvested and how it’s used, corn gets botanically and culinarily complicated very quickly. But for meal planning?

I treat corn as a starchy vegetable.

Meaning if I have chicken, green beans, corn AND mashed potatoes, I haven’t necessarily assembled:

Protein + three equivalent vegetables.

I’ve really got something more like:

Protein + non-starchy vegetable + two starchy carbohydrate foods.

That doesn’t mean I can’t eat them. It just means I finally understand what is happening on my plate.

CORN: I feel singled out.

You and Potato can form a support group.

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Green Peas Would Also Like an Attorney

Peas are another sneaky one. They’re green. They’re round. They sit beside carrots. They have spent decades looking extremely innocent.

PEAS: We’re vegetables.

Yes. You’re also starchier than zucchini.

PEAS: Objection.

Overruled.

Peas contain more carbohydrate than most non-starchy vegetables, but they also bring fiber, protein and useful nutrients.

Again: More carbohydrate does not mean nutritionally worthless.

It just means I account for them differently.

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And Then There Are Beans

Oh, beans. I have entire blog post just for them. You knew they were going to complicate this. Black beans, pinto beans, chickpeas, kidney beans and butter beans contain a substantial amount of carbohydrate. But they also contain fiber and protein. So they don’t fit neatly into the same mental box as zucchini, nor do I think about them exactly like a potato.

Nutritionally, they’re their own interesting little creatures.

When I eat a good portion of beans, I remember that they contribute carbohydrate and protein rather than counting them as a free-for-all non-starchy vegetable.

BUTTER BEANS: After everything we’ve been through together?

I still love you.

BUTTER BEANS: Fine.

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Wait—What About Carrots?

This is where I expected another betrayal. Carrots taste sweet.

Surely carrots must be terribly starchy, right? Actually, carrots are generally classified as a non-starchy vegetable.

I do not need to interrogate every carrot. The same goes for tomatoes. Yes, they contain some naturally occurring sugar. No, that doesn’t suddenly turn them into cupcakes.

This has become another useful lesson:

Sweet-tasting doesn’t automatically mean “too much sugar.”

And “not sweet” doesn’t automatically mean low carbohydrate. Potatoes aren’t particularly sweet. They’re still starchy.

Food refuses to make this simple.

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My New Way of Looking at the Plate

I’m trying to stop thinking in terms of:

GOOD FOOD / BAD FOOD

and instead think:

What job is this food doing in this meal?

Chicken?

Protein.

Zucchini and mushrooms?

Non-starchy vegetables.

Potato?

Starchy carbohydrate.

Avocado?

Mostly healthy fat, plus fiber.

Black beans?

Carbohydrate + fiber + plant protein.

Suddenly the plate makes more sense.

I don’t have to exile anything. I just don’t need every member of Team Starch attending the same dinner.

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The Dinner Party Problem

Let’s say I make chicken.

Then I add:

Green beans

Mushrooms

A small sweet potato

Great.

But suppose I add:

Sweet potato

Corn

Peas

Dinner roll

Each individual food can fit into a nutritious diet.

But collectively?

Team Starch has taken over the meeting.

Meanwhile the green beans are standing outside because nobody saved them a chair. This is where portion and combination become much more useful to me than declaring individual foods forbidden.

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My Extremely Unscientific Kitchen Shortcut

When I’m standing in the kitchen and don’t feel like conducting a nutritional investigation, here’s the mental shortcut I’m learning:

Usually load up more freely:

Leafy greens, zucchini, yellow squash, mushrooms, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, asparagus, cucumber, peppers and similar non-starchy vegetables.

Give a little more thought to the portion:

Potatoes, sweet potatoes, purple potatoes, corn, peas, winter squash and plantains.

Remember they’re doing several jobs:

Beans, chickpeas and lentils.

That’s it.

I don’t need a spreadsheet beside the stove.

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And Canned Still Counts

Also, before anyone from our previous discussion gets nervous: Canned green beans are still invited.

Frozen vegetables are still invited.

Fresh vegetables are still invited.

The vegetable does not become nutritionally disgraced because somebody put it in a can. Choose no-salt-added or lower-sodium canned vegetables when you can, drain and rinse regular canned vegetables when appropriate, and proceed with your life.

We have enough things to worry about.

The social standing of the green bean does not need to be one of them.

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A Brief Meeting of the Vegetable Department

ZUCCHINI: I’m non-starchy.

Yes.

GREEN BEANS: So are we.

Yes.

POTATO: I’m starchy but nutritious.

Correct.

SWEET POTATO: Also nutritious.

Yes.

PURPLE POTATO: Anthocyanins.

We know.

CORN: I still think this classification system is discriminatory.

Noted.

PEAS: Our attorney will be contacting you.

Of course.

BUTTER BEANS: Where are we sitting?

Honestly, you need your own table.

BOK CHOY: Nobody even knew who I was last week.

Look at you now.

😂

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The biggest thing I’m learning is that “eat more vegetables” is good advice, but understanding what kind of vegetable I’m eating makes that advice much more useful.

A potato doesn’t need to pretend to be zucchini. Corn doesn’t need to apologize for having starch. And I don’t need to be afraid of either one.

I can eat a huge variety of foods. I just need to know what I’m putting on my plate.

Because apparently adulthood includes discovering that peas have been withholding information from me for decades.

And frankly?

I’m still processing it.