Potatoes - Veggies or Not

Discussion in 'Food & Drinks' started by Mal Campbell, Apr 27, 2015.

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Potatoes - A Vegetable or Not - (Please vote - make your voice heard)

  1. Yes - they are a vegetable

    7 vote(s)
    70.0%
  2. No - they aren't a vegetable

    1 vote(s)
    10.0%
  3. Who cares - I'm eating them regardless

    2 vote(s)
    20.0%
  1. Mal Campbell

    Mal Campbell Supreme Member
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    OK, I mentioned this on another thread and thought I would settle it here. ;) My husband insists that potatoes are a vegetable, I insist that they aren't, they are a starch. So when fixing a dinner, and the requirement is to have at least one veggie, when he cooks we have potatoes. If I cook, we have real veggies, like corn, green beans, broccoli, carrots, etc.

    So, who's right - me or my hubby. Potatoes - a vegetable or not?
     
    #1
  2. Sheldon Scott

    Sheldon Scott Supreme Member
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    Potatoes are a vegetable. Husbands are always right. Many vegetables have starch. They are still vegetables.
     
    #2
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  3. Mal Campbell

    Mal Campbell Supreme Member
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    And how long have you been married? :D I'm surprised your wife hasn't broken you in better - what's her name, I'll have to have a little talk with her. Even when we're wrong, we're right!! ;)
     
    #3
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  4. Brittany Houser

    Brittany Houser Veteran Member
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    HAHA! I don't think I want to get in the middle of this cat fight! :eek: But then again, why not? :D Yep potatoes are a veggie. Lots of vegetables have starch, that's the reason diabetics have to limit them in their diets.
     
    #4
  5. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    I am not sure that a potato is technically a vegetable; since it comes from the root tubers of the plant, and not from the actual plant itself. But if we take the potato out of the vegetable catagory, then we also lose carrots, beets, turnips, sweet potatoes, and other plants where we actually eat the roots as a food.
    There are other foods that we consider to be a vegetable that actually are not. Tomatoes are said to actually be a fruit, although we never use them like we would do with a peach or an apple.
    Corn is another mis-named vegetable. Corn is actually a grain, not a vegetable. We just eat it like one, and call it a vegetable.
    Avocadoes are another fruit that we use more like a vegetable, yet it grows on a tree just like an orange or an apple does.
    I think that we get different foods from a variety of sources, and we consider them to be vegetables due to the way that they are prepared and eaten, rather than what family of foods they really come from.
     
    #5
    Last edited: May 1, 2015
  6. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    The folks at Wikipedia agree that edible tubers are vegetables.
     
    #6
  7. Sheldon Scott

    Sheldon Scott Supreme Member
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    Vegetable is a culinary term, not a scientific term. In a science class, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and squash are fruits. In cooking class or at home in the kitchen they are vegetables.
     
    #7
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  8. Jenn Windey

    Jenn Windey Supreme Member
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    Tomatoes are a fruit

    "While it is botanically a fruit, it is considered a vegetable for culinary purposes (as well as under U.S. customs regulations, see Nix v. Hedden), which has caused some confusion. The fruit is rich in lycopene, which may have beneficial health effects. The tomato belongs to the nightshade family, Solanaceae.
    Tomato - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia"


    Potato in cooking is treated like a grain nutrition wise, similar to a noodle or rice in that it counts as a starch, thats why we make peas or carrots or some other vegetable with the meal. I personally like things like pierogi or gnocchi which is both noodle and potato, the best of both worlds o_O

    We all know the real question should be mashed or baked.
     
    #8
  9. Richard Paradon

    Richard Paradon Supreme Member
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    Potatoes are the least of my food problems and lack of knowledge. Until I moved to Thailand, I thought pineapples grew on trees.
     
    #9
  10. Carlota Clemens

    Carlota Clemens Veteran Member
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    There are two foods that I love for its versatility to make as many dishes as one's imagination dictates, and two foods I will never get tired to eat.

    These foods has to be chicken eggs and potatoes.

    I don't care if these are vegetables or not, they are food that I like to eat ;)
     
    #10
  11. Corie Henson

    Corie Henson Veteran Member
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    I would dare venture a guess - potato is a tuber and tubers are not considered fruits. So what do we make of them? They are in the category of vegetables. But if you don't agree then you probably need to give a good explanation why potato chips is classified as vegetable. Another thing going for the vegetable tag is the carbohydrates of the potato.

    But whatever it is, potato plays a big role in our nutrition. We were being fed boiled potato when we were babies in lieu of rice. My grandmother said that potato makes the baby strong and alert... that's why we were awake the whole night, hahahaaa.
     
    #11
  12. Helene Lawson

    Helene Lawson Veteran Member
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    Of course that potatoes are vegetables.
     
    #12

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