7 Vegetables That Start With V

Vegetable mustard, commonly known as mustard greens, is a leafy green vegetable native to Asia. Its leaves have jagged or frilly edges and can be smooth or wrinkled, while the fibrous stems are usually removed before cooking.

Vegetable mustards have a bold, peppery, and slightly spicy flavor. The intensity of the peppery taste can vary depending on the variety and maturity of the leaves.

Slow cooking, stewing, and stir-frying are the most popular ways of cooking vegetable mustards in various cuisines, from the Southern US to India, China, and Japan.

Vine spinach is a leafy vegetable that originated in Southeast Asia. It has many other names, such as Malabar spinach, Ceylon spinach, and Indian spinach.

Vine spinach has thick, succulent leaves and stems with a glossy exterior. The leaves are typically heart-shaped and range in color from dark green to dark red.

Cooked vine spinach is slightly slimy and comes with a mild, earthy, and spinach-like flavor with a hint of tanginess. In most cuisines, people use this vegetable in curries, soups, hot pots, and sautéd dishes rather than consume it raw.

There are many dishes made with vine spinach in the traditional cuisines of Southeast Asian and African countries.

Verdolaga, or purslane, is a leafy vegetable with roots in India and the Middle East. Its spoon-shaped dark green leaves are arranged in clusters along thick, reddish stems.

Verdolaga has a mild, slightly tangy, and lemony taste. People in the Middle East make use of this flavor profile in many salads and stews.

In Mediterranean and Latin American countries, verdolaga is used in salads, soups, stews, sauces, and as a filling for savory pastries. Meanwhile, some Asian cuisines add this vegetable to curries, soups, and stir-fries.

Vegetable marrow is another name for marrow, which is basically a mature zucchini. A type of fruit vegetable, it has an elongated, cylindrical shape with smooth, thin skin.

Cooked vegetable marrows are as tender as zucchini or summer squash, while their taste is relatively neutral but takes on the flavors of other ingredients very well.

Therefore, vegetable marrows are suitable for stews, casseroles, curries, slow-cooked dishes, and stuffed dishes. From the Mediterranean to Asia, there are many vegetable marrow recipes throughout the world.

Velvet bean, also known as cowhage or buffalo bean, is a legume native to Asia, specifically China and India. Its pods boast soft, fine hairs, hence the velvety texture that creates the legume’s name.

Velvet beans come in many different colors and sizes yet contain less starch than other legumes.

Although velvet beans aren’t often consumed as a food item due to the presence of potentially toxic compounds, boiling and soaking make these legumes safe for cooking stews and porridges.

Interestingly, velvet beans have a rich history of use in traditional medicine, particularly in Ayurvedic and African systems.

Vegetable hummingbird is a plant whose leaves and flowers can be consumed as vegetables. It hails from Southeast Asia and has many other names, such as West Indian pea, katurai, and agati.

This fast-growing plant produces large flowers that resemble the shape of a hummingbird, hence its name. These white or red flowers are crunchy and sweet; some even describe notes of mushroom-like savoriness.

Meanwhile, vegetable hummingbird leaves have a fairly bitter but refreshing taste and can be prepared like ordinary vegetables. Chefs in Southeast Asia often sauté, steam, stir-fry, or add these leaves to soups and hot pots.

Velvetleaf is a tall vegetable that comes from tropical Asia, especially India. Its other names are Chinese tallow, velvetweed, butterprint, and Indian mallow.

Belonging to the mallow family, velvetleaf has large, soft-haired leaves. Its flavor is something of an acquired taste, with bitter and greasy notes.

While velvetleaf isn’t widely used in cooking, it can be incorporated into stir-fries or omelets. In addition, its seeds are consumed in the same way as sunflower seeds in some regions.