I love veggies, but hubby was rather picky when I met him. How I got him to try and like new veggies (and other foods too) was to prepare them in very unhealthy, but hard to dislike ways and then cut back on the unhealthy ingredients.

For example sauteeing a veggie in butter or topping the veggie with a creamy, high-calorie sauce. Or serving the veggies with a creamy mayo/sour cream dip. Then bit by bit, using less of the fatty ingredient.

For me, texture is more important than taste. Even if something tastes absolutely horrible to me, if the texture is ok, I can eat it. However, no matter how good something tastes, if the texture is one I can't handle I can't swallow to save my life (applesauce for example gives me the heebyjeebies).

Roasting is my favorite flavor/texture for veggies, but it took some practice to get the roasting just right. I love when there's just a bit of charred edge, and the outside is crispy and the inside of the veggie is soft.

Which world cuisines/cooking styles do you like? Italian, Chinese, Indian, Thai, Japanese, Middle Eastern, for instance? Almost all cultures have a good vegetable tradition in there, and different styles can make the most enormous difference to whether an ingredient is palatable or not. If you can think of a style/cuisine you like in general, and even more if it's one where you have previously discovered that a meal you just wolfed down included veg you don't usually like, try cooking in that style. I have never really got on with cauliflower, and traditional British ways of cooking it are miserable, but a Chinese cookbook of mine has a recipe for Indonesian cauliflower soup which is absolutely delicious.

Grilling makes veggies wonderful and I don't like veggies either. Esofia is right I love Thai food and really good Chinese, and can eat vegetables that I would not normally eat. When I make my Pasta sauce I make it with carrots, celery and onions and sometimes peppers to get the veg count up. Makes a better sauce.

im in the same boat but im far worse off. i dont eat any veggies AT ALL. i have a terrible time with texture. i cant eat apples b/c theyre spongy and crunchy. i can do apple sauce but its kinda lumpy.

i try and taste things but it isnt taste its the way it feels in my mouth. i cant physically swallow stuff. i drink the v8 fusion with the fruits and veggies as much as i can to try and help but i know its got a good bit of sugar in it.

any advice? i dont want to thread jack but we're kinda in the same situation.

my staple diet so far is poptarts (i know i know.... ) pasta (love italian food. spent 2 weeks in italy and cant wait to go back) down to one dr. pepper a day 1.5-2 liters of water a day and whatever pizza we make at work. also on the plate is cereal, oatmeal, grits (which im out off and now craving) and soup (campbells chunky usually, i eat like a man, meat and potatoes!)

Are there any forms in which you will eat vegetables? You mentioned pizza: what's on that which you will eat? The tomato sauce? Actual pieces of vegetable? How are you with puréed veg, e.g. dips or soup?

I love veggies, and most days I eat a morning scramble with onions & peppers (which I buy frozen/chopped) then a salad for lunch (dressed w/EVOO and parm) and a stir "fry" for dinner.

I didn't used to like salads much myself -- I always loved veggies as an adult, but the veggies were cooked and flavored by meat. I got in the habit of eating a salad every day and now I love them (but it still has to be flavored -- now with parm). I think it is mostly just doing it and getting used to it.

But for a stepping stone, I'd recommend doing things like making soup with lots of veggies (If you don't make home-made soup, just throw part of a bag of mixed veggies in with a can or two of your favorite canned soup and heat till the veggies are cooked). If you make spaghetti sauce, add lots of veggies (again, you can just throw in some frozen mixed veggies, but fresh zuchinni or greens works well too). The same can be done with the sauce for lasagna if you make that.

Lots of foods cooked in a crock pot can also have frozen veggies thrown in. Any time you are making a pot roast or stew, have those frozen veggies handy.

As you can tell, I am a huge fan of frozen veggies and eat a lot of them. Even though I love veggies, I still routinely end up composting some portion of the fresh produce I buy. The frozen veggies wait for me to get around to them and they maintain their nutrients better than the fresh produce that has sat around in a store then in my fridge for too long.

Watch the documentary Food Inc or read articles on factory farming, slaughterhouses etc--should help you turn to vegetables.

I am vegetarian and cannot imagine eating cows, chickens, pigs, etc as they live and die so horribly. Even fish suffer when caught.

Best wishes as you learn to enjoy nature's bounty of vegetables.

i definitely agree with roserodent. constant exposure will help it be easier to eat. and definitely have some variety every day. for a few weeks i was on a cucumber kick and ate raw cucumbers every day. now i almost cant stand cucumbers. as long as you dont wear yourself out on the veggies you do like it will be easier to experiment with different kinds of veggies you arent used too

Thanks for starting this thread ! I found some wonderful ideas id like to try here, thanks girls (the carrot &raisin salad sounds so yummy)

for me, i've been having sauteed veggies for like 13 days now and i love it. the thing is to find a dressing u liike to have with it. for me, it's my special yougurt mustard dressing (it's 2 cps of yoghurt, 3/4 big spoon of mustard (the one with seeds) and 2 pieces of garlic a little salt and voila! it's sooo yummy

also the grilles veggies (zucchini+carrots+sweet potato + little olive oil + salt + pepper is very delicious as well

and you can try to add veggies to ur other foods, like having a tuna salad with potatoes and onions and cucumber... tomatoes in ur sandwitches

hope u find veggies very delicious soon!

I use a juicer. You can get one fairly cheap at wally world. Sneek in a veggie here and there with fruit that you like. Celery is really got for you and I mix that with just about everything I juice. There are tons of recipes online for juicers, your bound to find something you like

You can also try hiding them in other foods. You can roast vegetables and then puree them and put them in soups and stews. You can also make yourself a smoothie and add a cup of spinach. Once it's blended you won't even taste it.

Sometimes you just have to put your big girl panties on & do it.

I suggest once a week or when ever you go to buy the bulk of your groceries, buy one or 2 new kinds of vegetables to experiment with. My guess is there are plenty of other veggies out there that you like but you just haven't had them yet.
After you pick out your veggies, come here and create a thread about how to prepare it, that should get you lots of responses and many healthy ways to prepare it. Another way is to do a search for it and see what comes up. I think you would be surprised at what kind of results you'd get. Also don't give up, if you don't like it the first time try it a different way. Good luck with finding the veggies you love.

My absolute favorite way to eat any veggie is grilled. Just yesterday I went to the market and bought the cheapest things I could find which happened to be broccolli, white onions and a variety of bell peppers. I sliced them up and sprayed them with olive oil cooking spray and sprinkled them with a little salt and pepper. I use one of the grill pans that have holes all over it and cooked them outside about 15 minutes or so. OMGoodness. Total deelish!

Btw, the poster earlier that wrote to say constant exposure is the way to make yourself like veggies is right on!

My suggestion is--until you have trained yourself to not automatically balk at the though of veggies add them to your favorites.

I make a cheesy veggie quesadilla...
Whole Wheat F. Tortillas
1/2 cup frozen bag of Cauliflower, Broccoli, and Carrots...cook till soft then chop up into mini bites.
Your favorite cheese--enough to cover entire tortilla

Spray pan with Pam, Warm Tortilla, cover 1/2 with cheese, then Veggies, then cheese again...fold tortilla onto it's self and flip, both sides should be a golden brown.

I also add a lot of veggies to my eggs, meatloaf and soups.

When scrambling eggs add a bit of spinach and feta cheese...
Meatloaf can be bulked up using Carrots and Celery
Soups can have cabbage, spinach, or really anything

Hope this helps