You may find it funny that I used to be intimidated by the patty pan! For some reason I thought they would be so different to regular squash, but I'm so glad I got over that. I think they are delicious now. :) Coincidentally I also never use to really like tomatoes (unless they were in a sauce or ketchup). That's probably because until about 6 or 7 years ago I hadn't had a fresh grown tomato in years. Once you go local, the ones in the grocery store pretty much taste like cardboard. These are so delicious I am doing just as you said because I can't bear to mess with their natural flavor! No artichokes, so not sure which veggie you were looking at. Those I am still intimidated by, too, but I'll attack them some day and get over that silly fear. ;)