What vegetables start with the letter F?
Vegetables are often overlooked as a source of nutrition. They contain essential nutrients such as fiber, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytochemicals.
Some of them also provide health benefits such as lowering cholesterol or reducing cancer risk.
However, some vegetables are actually underutilized due to their unfamiliarity. This article lists some of the most common vegetables that begin with the letter F – and it will hopefully introduce you to some new vegetables to try out!
1. Fenugreek
While Fenugreek is a herb, it contains plenty of nutrients that make it incredibly useful for adding to dishes as an extra source of health benefits.
You are most likely to find it in Indian dishes or South American dishes because of its spicy taste.
2. Fennel
This vegetable has a sweet licorice flavor, which makes it perfect for salads or soups. It’s high in vitamin C and potassium, making it great for your heart and bones.
3. Frisee
Also known as chicory, the leaves of this vegetable have a mild cucumber-like taste with a hint of bitterness.
Frisee is full of vitamin A, vitamin C, and Folic Acid, all of which are great for helping you absorb iron into your body.
4. French Bean
French beans are green vegetables that grow in pods, and they are also known as green beans. They can be fried, boiled, or steamed, as well as being added to salads, soups, and stews.
French beans are healthy vegetables that are full of nutrients (including vitamin K and Calcium).
5. Field Cucumber
Field cucumbers are smaller and thicker than the common type of cucumber, and their skin is also thicker to cut through.
However, they still taste very fresh, just like a regular cucumber would! You can eat them without peeling them first, and they’re great when added to salads, pizzas, and noodle dishes.
6. Fava Bean
Fava beans are an Asian vegetable that, interestingly, many people think tastes like cheese! These beans are used as a salad ingredient or a dip, and they can be prepared in many ways.
One of the most useful properties is that they can be ground into a flour that can replace chickpea flour, which is often used for pasta and breadsticks.
7. Fat Hen
This vegetable is also known as wild spinach, and it is usually eaten cooked. Fat hens actually contain far more vitamins and iron than spinach or collards do,
which is why the leaves and seeds are typically added to salads, pesto, and sauces to get the added health benefits (along with a chard-like taste).
8. Field Blewit
Field blewits are beautiful, purple mushrooms that are not poisonous, which is quite rare to find in colored mushrooms.
However, you shouldn’t eat them raw because they can cause allergic reactions. Their nutty taste is delicious when cooked into risottos, pasta dishes, and many types of stew.
9. Fiddlehead Greens
This vegetable is native to Canada, and it gets its name from the fact that its leaves look just like a violin’s fiddle!
With their bright green color and unusual shape, you may be tempted to just eat fiddlehead greens raw – but you must always cook it for at least 10 minutes before trying it.
Then you will be able to make the most out of its antioxidants and omega-3 acids.
10. Fluted Pumpkin
Fluted pumpkins are grown in West Africa, and they look very different to what you would expect from a pumpkin – they are long and thin with a dark green color!
This unique-looking vegetable is packed with fiber and protein, but not from its flesh – it is harvested for its seeds and leaves.
11. Flashy Butter Gem Lettuce
The butter gem lettuce has a beautiful spatter of deep crimson across its green leaves, and it looks similar to romaine lettuce.
It is a leafy vegetable that grows quickly, so it is perfect for adding to salads, sandwiches, and wraps – or you can even grill it for a hot meal.
12. Filius Blue Pepper
These peppers were first created in Texas, and they certainly pack a punch at 50,000 on the Scoville Heat Scale! Before they are fully ripe,
they are a deep blue color and this is when they are at their hottest, but if you leave them a little longer they will turn a lovely purple shade and the spice will die down.
13. Fiero Radicchio
Radicchio is one of those vegetables that are easy to grow, and its leaves (which are streaked with red and white) have a distinctly bitter taste like the rest of the chicory family.
It is very high in vitamin C and potassium, and it is delicious when grilled on a barbecue!
14. Field Cress
Cresses are a type of mustard plant that is native to Europe and Asia. This particular variety of cress is high in vitamin A, C, and K, and it is often used in salads and sandwiches for its sweet, tangy taste.
15. Flint Corn
This type of corn has an unusual appearance, in that the kernels are all red and orange! It is much sweeter than the typical variety of corn,
but you do have to work hard to get to the kernels as this particular species has a very rough outer husk.
16. Fingerroot
Also known as “Chinese keys”, fingerroots are a favorite among ginger lovers and medics alike! It is part of the annual crop in China,
and it was named fingerroot because of the way that it grows ‘fingers’ coming out of its centerpiece.
It has proven useful in lots of traditional medicine practices, and in terms of food, it is commonly pickled or used as a spice.
17. French Sorrel
French Sorrel is a herb that looks very similar to spinach, but it certainly doesn’t have its taste. Instead, it will produce an incredibly tangy flavor, and many people compare it to the flavor of a lemon!
As a member of the buckwheat family, this vegetable goes very well in salads and sandwiches.
18. Flax Microgreens
This vegetable is fairly new as a concept, but that hasn’t stopped its steady rise in popularity. Flax Microgreens are essentially flax seeds sprouts that are harvested during the early stages of their growth.
They are usually eaten raw, and they contain a lot of nutrients such as antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and enzymes. They also add a nice crunch to your salads!
19. Flat Cabbage
The flat cabbage is also known as Taiwanese cabbage, and it is very popular in Korean cuisine – it is also good for making kimchi! It is low in calories and high in potassium,
although it does have slightly less flavor than some other varieties of cabbage (which is why it is a very useful vegetable to cook with lots of spices).
20. Field Mushroom
The Field Mushroom belongs to the genus Agaricus, it is very closely related to the button mushroom, and it is made up of a wide but thin cap sat on top of a thick stalk.
The field mushroom is found mostly in North America, and it can be cooked just like any other mushroom – it works particularly well when grilled.
21. Field Beans
Field Beans are closely related to broad beans, but they are smaller – in fact, the beans are actually half the size of a broad bean.
Field beans are extremely nutritious, and they are packed full of fiber, protein, iron, calcium, and zinc. They are also very versatile; they can be boiled, steamed, roasted, or even fried.
22. False Daisy
False daisies are not really daisies at all, but rather they are large plants that can reach heights of over two meters tall, and they are covered in tiny yellow flowers.
While you shouldn’t eat the flowers, the leaves and the shoots are often cooked and used as vegetables in many types of foods. Interestingly,
it also has many health benefits, and it has even been proven to significantly improve liver and kidney disease.
To Sum Up
There is a huge number of vegetables that begin with the letter F, and they are cultivated all around the world.
While some of these veggies are more common than others, the lesser-known varieties are still as delicious and interesting as those we typically see in the supermarkets.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Many Vegetables Start With F?
There are over 100 vegetables that begin with the letters F. Some of these include fennel, fiddleheads, flint corn, and field cress.
The list goes on and on, so there are plenty of options available to add something new to your meals!
What Do I Need To Know About Growing My Own Vegetables?
You don’t need any special equipment to grow your own vegetables, although you may want to invest in a greenhouse if you live somewhere where winter temperatures are too cold for plants to survive.
You also need to be aware of what season you plan to grow your vegetables since certain crops require different conditions.
For example, tomatoes and peppers prefer warm weather, while lettuces and onions thrive best in cooler weather.
