They say "curiosity killed the cat", and in this case, I can corroborate with that.

It all started on Ash Wednesday when I went veggie shopping. I was bound and determined to put in different vegetables than our usual fare, in accordance to my pursuit of Lenten abstinence.

I had my eyes set on one particular vegetable that I'd been seeing in GIANT, a little red cabbage like thing called a radicchio. Going off of the description in the store, it was supposedly good in salads or cooked in pasta dishes.

Oh, and it also said it was bitter.

I had originally intended that the radicchio be sliced and put in the salad. One mini-bite caused immediate regret and decided to spare even myself from that torture.

Hence, it was tossed in a plastic bag until the next Wednesday.

Looking up the vegetable itself, I discovered that it was more like an endive rather than a cabbage and that cooking it helped with some of the bitterness. And that it was prevalent in Italian cooking, for some reason. Pasta salads seem to be a favorite pairing, so I thought about that.

And then I looked in the fridge and discovered...celery-flavored pasta, mac and cheese, and two different styles of spaghetti, in addition to some leftover pasta from a casserole I had made for a Meal Train meal. All from the last week or so.

Clearly, there needed to be a break in the pasta regime.

So, it was time to go recipe hunting. I concentrated on radicchio recipes and came up with this one: https://www.kitchenkonfidence.com/2016/07/baked-cheddar-polenta-grilled-brats-radicchio. By sheer providence, I discovered I had all of the ingredients, as long as I subbed out the brats for some Bob Evans ground sausage, and regular cornmeal for the polenta.

I started on the polenta first. I've made stove-top polenta before and remember how time consuming that was. And so I was looking forward to trying this oven method.

I will admit, it did take more than one stir before it really set up well...contrary to what the recipe says.

I will say, I much prefer this oven method to the conventional method. Doesn't quite require as much scrutiny.

Stirring the polenta. It looks pale because of all the milk but it did get nice and yellow later Copyright: Catherine Hawthorn

Wilting the rest of it in the pan with the sausage grease. Not that it helped much. Copyright: Catherine Hawthorn

The complete meal

Looking back at the recipe, I realized that I made several mistakes. One was that I should have tossed the radicchio in lemon juice....which may have eliminated some of the bitterness. I also forgot to add the cheese and the finishing ingredients to the polenta mixture. Although, I don't think it really needed it that much - the fresh garlic helped flavor it just fine. It had enough dairy in it as it was, actually.

All in all, the radicchio experiment turned into a bittersweet disaster....and not one that I plan on repeating any time soon. I mean, the only good I see in this vegetable is that it could be a suitable penance-food and that's it. And even an abstinence-lover like me draws the line at this one.

Now it is your turn! What is the most unusual vegetable you've eaten? What sort of foods have you tried that you've heartily despised? Chat with me in the comments! 

Old-fashionably yours,

Catherine