Vegetable craves

At home as a child, my mother insisted on us having vegetables with everything. I remember one dinner where we actually got a ready made pizza ( a rare thing in our house ) and my mother put a bowl of carrot sticks next to it. At the time, I angrily claimed that I would never eat vegetables once I cooked my own food but I would probably die of vegetable poisoning long before I got there. My mother just smiled at me knowlingly.

Now, a confession from adult me: I love fruits and vegetables. Cooked vegetables, raw vegetables, roasted vegetables, steamed vegetables and blanched vegetables. I occasionally get actual vegetable craves, such as a few days ago when I made a huge pot of the best Ratatouille in the world. I'm still eating the leftovers and it is so yummy. I'd trade you a steak for a bowl of that any day.

I might have gone a little overboard when shopping that day though ( see the picture above ) so I went to the self checkout machines to avoid the odd looks at the cashier.

What do you think about vegetables? The best thing after chocolate, to be avoided at all costs or a neccessary evil?