Brussel Sprouts - I dislike them. But have been over the years trying to find a recipe that will make them taste good. Everyone is always like just try them this way. I keep trying but no luck so far. And spaghetti squash - every time I have cooked it, it turns into this mushy baby food looking mess. I have a hard enough time trying to cut the silly thing in half and then all that works seems to be for naught as it never turns out well.

I'm a relatively young cook; I've been cooking for a long time, but it took me some time away from my mother's flavorless casseroles to even realize turnips and kale and whatnot existed. Over the years, I've kept adding new things to my repertoire, trying new fruits, vegetables, and grains each time I went to the store - but I haven't been experimenting like mad. One toe at a time...

Since I haven't heard of or cooked half the things mentioned in this post (!!!), I'm going to take the hint and vary what's going on in my crisper. :P

The only way I have ever liked okra cooked is fried with cornmeal (southern style). Does anyone have any other good recipes for okra? I've tried a few curries, and they're okay, but nothing special.

Parsnips. I've tried them roasted, baked, boiled, mashed, sauteed (they appeared often in my CSA) but still just don't like them at all. I'll eat other root veggies, like rutabaga, carrots, turnips, etc. but parsnips are a no-go.

Potatoes. Hard to get just right, and both overdone and underdone are pretty awful.

Acorn squash-I'm always afraid I am going to hack off a finger so I just don't even bother. I've also never gotten my arms around turnips. I love most every other root vegetable but that just doesn't do it for me. And not to get too esoteric but I despise cardoni. My used to prepare it for my Italian born dad when I was younger and I hated it then and do now.

I really don't like any root vegetables that I can think of. I don't like the sweetness of them, if that makes sense: Beets, Turnips, squash of any kind, sweet potatoes...
Yeck. It makes fall more difficult...
I could eat brussel sprouts, cabbage, and other greens pretty much every day though!

I didn't like Brussels sprouts until I roasted them. I LOVE them roasted.

My big problem w/vegetables is getting my little one to eat them. She has an ever-shifting like/hate list that needs to be alternately indulged and challenged. For example, she came in the kitchen once to ask about "that good smell." On learning it was spinach, she ran away. She used to love broccoli, then hated it, now it's one of her favorites again.

Not a huge vegetable fan, and always looking for ways to work some into a dish in a way I can ignore.

Okra is *easy*. Chop it up and cook along with onions in any vaguely stewlike dish. They help thicken the broth, and add very little flavor or texture themselves so you can convince yourself you're not eating vegetables. ;-)

Kale. I know how good for you it is but I think it tastes awful and its texture grosses me out. I've tried every way of preparing it, no dice.

Kale. No matter what it done to it, it tastes like wet cardboard.

I don't love squash, either winter or summer. I'll eat it, and there are ways (usually involving lots of cheese) to get it to a point I'll sort of enjoy it but I have to pressure myself to buy it or cook it. The same is true of carrots and celery. Edible but not more than that.

I LOVE okra, every way I can get it, however.

@suzmac I like brussel sprouts raw. If you cut the stump off the little leaves will separate. Toss with lemon, olive oil and big shavings of parm. It's really crunchy and yummy!

Butternut squash - not worth the effort. I can get a similar flavor and texture from sweet potatoes with much less work. Otherwise I buy them pre-peeled.

Yes to the roasted brussels sprouts method. Cut them in half, sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper, and then roast at 425ish for 10-15 minutes. Throw some lemon juice and parmesean cheese on after they're out of the oven, and you're in heaven. I have converted many BS haters (including myself) with this method.

And the only way I can enjoy okra is pickled. The slime isn't an issue anymore, and it's crunchy and delicious.

The ones I still can't get past though are celery and cauliflower.

@carrie melissa and the author
Veganomicon's recipe for Gumbo uses okra and it's amazing! The flavour of the dish is great, and the okra doesn't get slimey since the slime just gets incorporated into the sauce.

I actually have no foods that I don't like. I don't eat meat, but I don't deny that it is delicious. Oh, except for ginger. If it's noticable in a dish, I can't stomach it. I appreciate the flavour it adds though, so I still use it, but usuall only half the amount the recipe calls for.

There are certain foods that I can't eat much of before getting the icks - such as beets (I like one or two bites, then it's over and more makes me gag).

I can't eat raw cabbage or brassicas of any kind (including broccoli). However I LOVE them cooked.

I fear to try: turnips, beets, rutabagas, celeriac, kohlrabi (even though I want to).

I tried and loved parsnips, except for when they are woody in the middle - they're so skinny, how do you cut the woody bits out?

And I feel ya on the butternut squash thing. I've got a huge one sitting on my counter and nary a butcher knife in sight.

My deep dark secret is that I hate dark leafy greens - kale, collard, mustard, chard, even spinach. However, for dietary reasons, I'm supposed to eat them as much as possible. I've had great success with steaming them & then "hiding" them in one of two ways - simply tossed into whatever I'm cooking (since I'm a meal-in-one-bowl kind of girl, it's pretty easy; right now my leftovers include chili with spinach, curry with kale, & beans & rice with collards), or else used in a pesto (because everything tastes good with olive oil & walnuts).

radishes. and i am getting radishes galore from my CSA right now... i have tried them raw, raw with butter, raw with salt, raw with salt and butter. none of which are especially delicious in my mouth.

i have tried them sauteed and roasted (tastier, but causing an incredible stink that lasted in my house for days).

my newest way to try them will be as a sandwich, per my grammy: slice them thin, and put on bread with butter, salt and pepper.

radishes are becoming my nemesis.

Beets. I keep trying them and wanting to like them, but I just don't.

erinstl -- try roasting radishes. I think it's a pretty incredible way to prepare them.

Beets here too. I am good with pretty much any other root vegetable, but I haven't found a way to cook beets so that I'll enjoy them. I usually just throw them in a stew to avoid dealing with them.

Eggplant is a bit of an issue for me too (especially the year I made the mistake of growing them in my garden!). I really like it grilled, but have a tough time thinking of anything else to do with it.

Cooked strawberries. Anything made with cooked strawberries, strawberry jam. I like and eat anything else but really dislike these.

Beets, the texture is just not appealing to me. We found that we love okra (my 4 year old son especially) when it's roasted. Takes away some of the slime and the flavor is great.

I love every vegetable listed so far - kale, Brussels sprouts, okra, eggplant, beets, radishes, etc. I just love almost every vegetable out there...um, almost. No matter how many times I try them, I just never like the taste of artichokes. Too bitter or off in some way. I can't quite put my finger on it.

I try them quite often convinced that THIS time will be the time, but no dice. I should just give up, but I probably never will. :)

I don't like beets or okra at all. I've tried roasting Brussels sprouts and I still hate them. I have been a vegetarian my whole life, but there are plenty of things I don't like/won't eat, and I'm really picky about how a lot of things are prepared. I love raw baby spinach, but I hate it cooked. I hate all slimy textures (but love tomatoes; semi-slimy). I dislike a lot of greens, no matter how they are prepared. No stewed anything, no cooked fruit or berries (despise all jams and jellies). Not an artichoke fan either.
Eggplant and cauliflower are not great favorites of mine.

Beets, parsnips, brussel sprouts. Nasteeee

Allergic to cellery but otherwise enjoy all of the above & could eat my weight in okra however it's cooked. The only veggie I've ever met that I truly dislike is green beans. I cook them often for my family & have tried every.single.recipe I can find but....they still taste like wet grass to me =[

I've yet to try a vegetable I really disliked. Some I like more than others, but there's always a preparation that's at least palatable.

Winter squash and beets--both of which I get by the TON from my CSA. Help me!

@suzmac. Brussels sprouts made with bacon and candied walnuts. Bonus points for pan frying in the bacon fat. ;)

Beets, for sure. I actually switched CSAs because I got too many beets this year. A few years ago the spouse and I acknowledged we weren't eating a wide range of veg, so we added a new veg a week, which was fun and kept things interesting. Now I think I've tried everything, I've widened my repertoire, and I still hate beets.

Brussels sprouts sauteed with bacon and onions... YUM. I do spinach that way, too, since I think it's a little boring most other ways I've had it. I'm in the same boat as @asmallcontempt, that I haven't really experimented with too many veggies outside what my mom always made, but I'm definitely trying!

I keep trying beets, hoping I'll like them, but no-go. Same for mushrooms, unfortunately. I see these amazing recipes with portabellas and criminis and all sorts of exotic looking things, but I can't get past the rubbery texture. I struggle with eggplant, too... another texture thing. Thankfully, my hubby's open to experimenting and usually winds up having the same opinion I do. Whew!

Oh yeah, mushrooms. I actually like the flavor but cannot stand the texture.

Thanks for the suggestions on the brussel sprouts. I like the idea that bacon will make anything taste better. Will give it a try.

There are very few vegetables that I don't like:
mustard greens (they smell amazing raw, but I don't like them cooked)
radicchio
broccoli rabe
Every thing else is in!

I like butternut because it is easy to peel, it is the ridged winter squash like acorn that I have trouble with.

If you have not had roasted okra, you are missing out on one of life's greatest pleasures.
Roasting seems to save a lot of the "iffy" vegetables: beets and Brussels sprouts are fantastic roasted, too.

Try this recipe for Okra: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/skillet-roasted-spiced-okra I think the slime is what people typically dislike about okra, but the recipe above makes it cripsy. Yum!

Turnips and beets for me. I've tried both every way possible. I even grew turnips myself hoping for something better but still, yuck.

The only recipe I could tolerate turnips in was with loads of cheese and heavy cream. I cannot eat like that often so I don't grow turnips anymore.

Fennel! Ugh, I've tried so many times, I just don't like it!
And eggplant, I think it's kinda rubbery and doesn't have much flavor. I can cope when it's in a ratatouille but barely.

I think I should like winter squashes, and try them periodically, probably every winter, but no dice. Not even sure what I don't like about them...

I love to eat eggplant, but it can be a fickle mistress to cook. The inside can get mushy beyond salvation, and or the skin can be tough, plus it absorbs so much oil.

Butternut squash are a pain to peel, but I love them so they're worth it to me. (I also cheat sometimes and get the pre-peeled, pre-cut stuff from Trader Joe's.)

The one thing I don't like taste-wise, not because it's hard to prepare, is arugula. It's just SO bitter to me. I adore spinach, kale, chard, cress...any other green but arugula.