Vegetarian Research

All Vegetables That Start With Q (be careful with #2!)

While the vegetable kingdom offers a variety of delicious aromas, intriguing textures, and bright colors, one letter seems to stick out as a perplexing difficulty. Yes, the mysterious “Q”!

Is there a vegetable that starts with Q? Yes! I’ve actually found five options that can be considered culinary veggies.

This means they can be used in a variety of dishes and recipes as a type of vegetable, even if they aren’t officially classified as such.

Brace yourselves as we reveal nature’s best-kept secrets in the following list of vegetables with the letter Q! Dive into this search for the unusual and discover gastronomic possibilities from different parts of the world.

Are you ready?

A transparent bowl of cooked quinoa with wooden spoon

Without further ado, let’s explore this letter’s tasty goodies — vegetables that start with Q

Queensland arrowroot

Queensland arrowroot (Canna edulis) is a tropical and subtropical American perennial plant. Its starchy rhizomes are mostly grown for food.

Queensland arrowroot has thick, tuberous rhizomes like ginger roots. They’re starchy and can be eaten raw or cooked. The rhizomes become pasty when cooked and have a pleasant, sweet flavor.

Thickening agents like powdered Queensland arrowroot are used in savory and sweet dishes alike. No wheat or cornstarch here!

Queensland arrowroot is different from Maranta arundinacea, the common arrowroot used for similar reasons. Both plants have starchy rhizomes that thicken, although they are from different botanical families.

The name makes me think of Australia and Brisbane (as it’s in Queensland), though this veg is also sometimes called Indian Shot.

Queen Anne’s lace

Queen Anne’s lace, often known as wild carrot, is a biannual Apiaceae flower. This plant has naturalized in many countries beyond Europe and Asia.

Queen Anne’s lace is named for its lacy white flower clusters. The flat-topped flowers bloom throughout summer. Many small white blossoms surround a single dark purple or scarlet floret.

Queen Anne’s lace is appreciated for its beauty and deliciousness when cooked. I think it really is a refined looking vegetable.

The plant’s young roots are edible. These wild carrots taste like farmed ones but are known for their small size and fibrous texture.

Queen Anne’s lace resembles poison hemlock (Conium maculatum), which is dangerous. Therefore, consuming wild plants requires caution and proper identification! You don’t wanna get them mixed up!

The scientific name of the plant is Daucus carota.

Quelites

Quelites (Chenopodium album), also known as lamb’s quarters or wild spinach, are leafy vegetables with excellent nutritional value and taste. These edible Amaranthaceae plants are endemic to many countries.

Quelites have fragile, arrowhead-shaped leaves in brilliant green to purple colors.

They are a tasty and healthy food and a good source of vitamins A, C and K plus minerals like calcium and iron.

Quelites taste like spinach with a tinge of earthiness. They can be cooked, sautéed, or eaten raw in salads.

If you want to spice up your food, they’re well worth a try. Plus, you can impress people with your knowledge of veg beginning with Q!

Quillquina

Porophyllum ruderale, or quillquina, is a Central and South American herb. This plant, also known as papaloquelite or quilquina, is prized for its flavor and fragrance.

Cilantro, arugula, and citrus flavors characterize quillquina leaves. Bold, pungent, and peppery are common descriptions.

Many cuisines from South America, especially in Oaxaca and Veracruz, include these fresh leaves.

Tacos, soups, stews, salsas, and salads are often garnished with Quillquina leaves. They improve the dish’s flavour with their refreshing and slightly sour taste.

I tried it as an alternative to cilantro, and I have to say, I really enjoyed it.

Quillquina’s unusual flavor and culinary adaptability make it a cherished ingredient among those who have the chance to try it.

Quinoa

Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah), a grain-like seed, is versatile and healthy. It comes from the Andean Chenopodium quinoa plant. The Incas relied on quinoa as a staple crop for thousands of years.

Due to the high nutritional content of quinoa, it is considered a superfood. It’s a complete protein with all nine necessary amino acids.

It also contains antioxidants, B vitamins, vitamin E, folate, magnesium, iron, potassium, and dietary fiber.

Quinoa is crisp and mildly nutty when cooked. It can be used as a healthy snack, side dish, in salads, grain bowls, soups, stews, and baked products.

Quinoa is gluten-free and safe for people with celiac disease or gluten intolerance. Its nutritional qualities and cooking versatility have skyrocketed its popularity in recent years.

By now you’re probably thinking, “This is cheating, quinoa isn’t a veggie!” Technically, quinoa doesn’t fit the definition, but its leaves are also edible as a leafy green. That’s why it made the list!

I like how quinoa can be literally anything, from a great snack to a main ingredient. So it’s the right place to go to your local grocery store and give it a try!

Here is my favourite quinoa recipe with halloumi and here’s a surprisingly awesome quinoa porridge recipe!

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All Vegetables That Start With Q (be careful with #2!)

Explore a tantalizing array of healthy vegetables that start with Q, adding flavor and diversity to your culinary repertoire.

Type round-up

Author Dave

Ingredients

Queensland arrowroot
Queen Anne’s lace
Quelites
Quillquina
Quinoa

Show us your version!Tag @HurryTheFoodUp on Instagram and hashtag #hurrythefoodup.

I hope this list of vegetable names that start with Q has aroused your curiosity and broadened your culinary horizons, from quinoa’s crispness to quelites’ unique taste.

Have you found any of your local foods here? Share your favorite names of vegetables in the comments!

Don’t forget to check out my recent foods that start with P for more inspiration, whether it’s cooking, teaching games, or something else entirely!

Continue your culinary journey and let your taste buds experience new fun fruit flavours and delicious vegetable dishes! A little bit of adventure never hurts!

The post All Vegetables That Start With Q (be careful with #2!) appeared first on Hurry The Food Up.

Vegetarian Research

Complete List of Fruits that Start with the Letter U (#1 is so ugly!)

Ok, fruits beginning with U is a tricky one. But don’t let that stop you. Read on for the full list!

It’s a strange list, this one, and I hope you enjoy reading it as much I did putting it together! It also contains my favourite fruit of all time.

Let’s see what fruit begins with the letter U and how you can use it if it’s up for grabs in your area.

Unveil the most popular fruits that start with U!

What’s a fruit that starts with U? The type of fruit I’m going for is considered culinary fruit, either by tradition or by scientific definition.

Ugli

The ugli fruit (such a mean name!), also known as Jamaican tangelo and uniq fruit, is a hybrid of grapefruit, tangerine, and Seville orange. Its distinctive look and taste were developed in Jamaica.

The citrus fruit has rough, wrinkled skin ranging in color from yellowish-green to orange. The fruit is bigger than a grapefruit and relatively simple to peel.

The ugli fruit taste suits many cocktails, smoothies, sweets, and sauces. If you don’t like grapefruit, you might want to give this one a try because it’s much less acidic.

You can also tell people you’ve made an ‘ugli cocktail!’.

The botanical name of the ugli fruit tree is Citrus reticulata × paradisi.

Ugni

Only one letter different, ugni, commonly known as Chilean guava or Ugni molinae, is a fruit-bearing shrub from Chile and Argentina.

This U fruit is round or oval and approximately the size of a blueberry (or a tiny grape). Fresh berries are deep red in colour and have white flesh.

Taste-wise, ugni berries fall in between the sweetness of strawberries and the tartness of cranberries and kiwis. They’re used to make jams, jellies, sauces, sweets, and drinks.

Ugni also makes a rich source of antioxidants, vitamins (high levels of vitamin C), and minerals.

Umari

Umari fruit, technically known as Poraqueiba sericea, is a tropical fruit from the Amazon jungle in South America. Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador are its main locations.

Umari fruit is usually 2 to 4 cm in diameter. It has smooth and glossy skin that has a green or yellow color when unripe and turns a brilliant orange or red when completely ripe.

This unique fruit has a very creamy texture and buttery flavor. In fact, locals use it like butter to put over their bread. How cool is that?

Umbu

Spondias tuberosa, known as imbu, umbu, or Brazil plum is a Brazilian tropical fruit. It’s popular in the northeast of Brazil for its refreshing taste.

The round or oval Umbu fruit has thin and smooth green-to-yellow skin. Its sweet and tangy flesh combines pineapple, mango, and citrus burst of flavor.

Fresh umbu fruit is eaten by peeling the skin and eating the flesh or squeezing out the juice. Various drinks, ice cream, and pastries employ the juice.

Umbu jams and jellies can be smeared on toast or eaten as a topping or dip.

Umbra

Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands are home to the fruit-bearing tree Umbra (Spondias dulcis). You can also come across the names ambarella, June plum, and golden apple.

Umbra fruits are round, like little mangoes or apricots. Their ripe skin is smooth, yellow or golden, and somewhat fuzzy.

This U fruit tastes like a fusion of mango, pineapple, and citrus. It’s eaten raw or added to salads, sweets, and chutneys. Some cultures pickle young, immature fruit as a condiment.

Ume

Ume fruit also goes by the names Chinese plum, Japanese plum, and Japanese apricot. It’s a tree species native to East Asia and popular in Japanese dishes.

Its thin, fuzzy skin is green to yellow when unripe and crimson to orange when ripe. It has luscious, acidic flesh.

Ume fruit is culturally significant in Japanese cuisine and is used to produce umeboshi, a traditional condiment.

Umeboshi are pickled ume fruits preserved in salt and occasionally scented with shiso leaves. These sour, salty pickled fruits are consumed as a side dish or in rice balls (onigiri).

Umeshu, a Japanese liqueur, is also made from ume. It’s a sweet and fragrant drink created by soaking the fruits in alcohol, usually shochu or sake, and sugar.

Ume has potential health benefits in addition to its culinary usage. It may improve digestion, promote liver function, and supply antioxidants and vitamins.

This species is a member of the Prunus genus which includes plums, peaches, and cherries. It goes by the scientific name Prunus mume.

Usakhelauri grape

Usakhelauri, a rare Georgian grape variety (Vitis vinifera), makes excellent red wines. It’s mostly grown in Lechkhumi and Racha in western Georgia. Every year for my birthday I have red wine and cheese, and this one is my next plan. Roll on summer!

Usakhelauri grapes are dark purple or black and tiny. Their flavor profile and high sugar content create sweet and fragrant wines.

Usakhelauri grapes are notoriously low-yielding, making them a difficult variety to grow. Grapes are normally harvested with the utmost care and hand-picked.

Wines made from this grape are highly sought after by connoisseurs because of their rarity and high quality.

Uva Rara grape

Uva Rara is a red Italian wine grape varietal grown in Lombardy. Italian “Uva Rara” means “rare grape” due to its rarity compared to other grape varieties.

Uva Rara is typically blended with other red grapes to provide richness and depth to wines. It can include red berry, flowery, and spice notes.

Uva Rara grapes can also be developed into varietal wines. These medium-bodied wines with mild tannins include red fruit, herb, and earthy characteristics.

Uva Rara is also known as Bonarda Novarese.

Uva Tosca grape

Uva Tosca is a red wine grape produced in Emilia-Romagna, east-central Italy. It contributes to local wine production in Forlì-Cesena.

This type of grape was one of the few red wine grapes that could regularly mature in the foothills of the Apennines.

Uvalino grape

Uvalino is a red wine grape produced in Piedmont, northwest Italy. It contributes to Piedmont wine production despite its lesser fame.

Due to its high antioxidant resveratrol content, Uvalino has garnered notice in recent years for its health advantages.

As we’re starting to learn, many grapes start with U!

Uvilla

Uvilla (Physalis peruviana) is a fruit-bearing shrub endemic to Chile and Peru. It’s also commonly referred to as “Peruvian groundcherry,” “Cape gooseberry,” or simply “golden berry.”

Uvilla looks like a yellowish-green miniature tomato inside a husk, similar to a paper lantern, which turns from green to a golden or orange hue when the fruit is fully ripe.

The fruit has a nice sweetness-acidity balance. It’s frequently juiced, jammed, jellied, baked, or eaten fresh.

Uvilla or golden berry contains vitamin C, antioxidants, and dietary fiber.

This is my favourite fruit of all time. I love the sweet bite with just hint of a sour behind it. In Germany, where I live, they are called Physalis and are relatively popular. In English-speaking countries they have various names, including cape gooseberry.

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11 Surprising Fruits That Start With U: 2025 Edition!

Discover a world of extraordinary fruits that start with U. Explore their flavors, origins, and culinary possibilities in this captivating fruit guide.

Type round-up

Author Dave