Weirdest vegetables you've never heard of! These are the most exotic, lesser known greens, roots, and herbs used in cooking around the world.

Which strange plants can be substituted in for potatoes when cooking? What exactly is a “tiger nut”?

#15 Ramps
Somewhere between the leafstalked scallion and the pungentsmelling garlic is the North American veggie known as spring onion, wild leek, or simply ramp. Ramps are adapted to many different styles of cooking, providing many of the similar benefits to a dish as onion or garlic would. In the Appalachian region, though, they’re most often used with potatoes, fried in bacon fat or mixed into a scramble. States across the American South celebrate these vegetables with “Ramp Festivals” each year.
#14 Dulse
Seaweed is a common plant used in coastal cuisine. The popularity of foods like sushi have normalized the use of the otherwise strange undersea vegetation. What hasn’t caught on quite as naturally, though, is the use of red algae in cooking. Called dulse, this deep red, leafy aqueous flora sprouts large leathery fronds that are packed with protein and nutrients. In Iceland, dulse is eaten with butter by itself, and in Ireland it is a main ingredient in baking White Soda Bread. Though it’s most often used to enhance flavor when dried, ground, and added to dishes like soups, salads, and sandwiches. Between its health benefits and supposedly good taste, perhaps we’ll see more dulse in the future.
#13 Lotus Root
Appearing as something between swiss cheese and potatoes is the nutritional veggie known as lotus root. Used as a popular ingredient in Asian nations, especially in Japanese and Chinese dishes, this vegetable can be purchased fresh, frozen, or canned. Lotus root is an incredibly versatile food. It can be dried and ground into a powder and used as flour. It can be used to make a tea, as is popular in Korea. It can be pickled in vinegar or soaked in syrup to make sweet, spicy, and tangy treats. But most often lotus root is deepfried, stirfried, or cooked into a soup. It makes sense that this vegetable gets so much use, though, given its extensive nutritional benefits. Packed with vitamins and low calorie, the consumption of lotus root has shown to help fight diabetes and obesity.