Food - Drink
14 Fruits That Are Commonly Mislabeled As Vegetables
By CAROLINE DINICOLA
Avocados
Many fruits get mislabeled as vegetables, including avocados. Despite their green color, neutral flavor, and frequent use in savory dishes, avocados are scientifically fruits, since they contain a seed and are produced from the flowers of a tree, rather than being an edible part of the plant itself, as vegetables are.
Tomatoes
Tomatoes are mostly used in savory dishes, but they are indeed a fruit, and come in a range of different size, sweetness, and texture. They are relatively easy to grow for home gardeners, and if you’ve ever grown them for yourself, you're familiar with the plant's beautiful tiny flowers that eventually turn into fruits.
Zucchini
While zucchini looks and tastes like a vegetable, those who have seen zucchini plants in action know that they have a big, beautiful, flower from where the long fruit grows. Those blossoms (which are also edible), along with the soft seeds found in zucchini, are indications that this squash is a fruit.
Olives
Olive trees blossom just like an apple or orange tree, and olive pits are actually the seeds of the fruit. Olives are often turned into savory oils or packed in salty brine, but their natural flavor is a little more convincingly fruit-like, with a rich, yet refreshing and almost floral flavor found in most varieties.
Peppers
Because peppers grow from a flower and contain fertilized seeds, they are a member of the fruit family, even though most of them taste grassy, vegetal, and/or spicy. Bell peppers are the most neutral and sweet of all peppers, but even hot varieties like jalapeños, chili peppers, and poblanos are fruits.