He hates salad but at least he's trying.

[Seraph]

Have you tried sneaking it into his food?

Get a good blender, and chop up veggies super finely, and sneak them in what you cook for him.

Gravy-type thing needed? Sneak in blended carrots/mushrooms/etc.
Making a casserole? Sneak in some squash.

Seriously, sneaking in veggies is how I got my husband to be a bit more open to the idea of vegetables, because he'd gotten a bit of adjustment from all the ninja'ing I did. He still hates green beans and mushrooms with a passion, but he has no idea just how often I hide them in food.

I got the idea after seeing a 30 second clip about this: http://www.thesneakychef.com/ Worked wonders, seriously.

[42_42_42]

Salads aren't the only way to get veggies in your diet.

Does he like Italian food (i.e. spaghetti)? If so, you can get a LOT of veggies into a homemade pasta sauce.

Here's a couple veggie laden recipes:
Pasta Primavera

Veggie Chili

[taxguykarl]

Here's another source...believe it or not WebMD

I coook this bean bolognese quite often (mostly for the price).

Several times we made a veggie lasagna--slicing eggplant and/or summer squash into thin noodle-like strips.

[Brandy]

When I ate meat, I used to make tuna fish with just enough low fat/no fat mayo to hold it together, and would add green and red pepper, onion, and celery. It can be diced up pretty small if you want. I would also add garlic powder and dillweed. So good.

The pasta sauce is a good idea. You can buy pasta sauce with veggies in them, or make your own. I make pasta sauce with red and green pepper, onion, garlic, celery, spinach, and broccoli. I put everything through the food processer first so you're not eating big chunks of veggies but they're in there.

[KiaKat]

Another note: Especially be careful of processed foods. They tend to be excessively high in salt and sugar, both of which are horrible for you in large amounts.

Fat is not a bad thing, if it's the right sort of fat. Unsaturated fats are the best, and in moderate amounts can raise your "good" cholesterol. Saturated or polyunsaturated fats are bad, and should be limited.

Also, if you're on Reddit, they've got some fantastic info. r/Fitness has a whole FAQ about weight loss, health, and fitness myths. I learned a lot from them. r/Cooking is a mixed bag, because a lot of people go on there and post the worst things you can possibly make... and they look delicious.

Are either of you in shape? Meaning, do you exercise at least 30 minutes, 4 times a week? If not, think about starting up a gym routine or setting a walking route through your neighbourhood that you follow at least a couple times a week. Often, blood pressure can be reduced via exercise. And having someone to exercise with makes it more fun, and more of a challenge. Hell, why not start up the Couch-to-5K program!

What you're doing here is making a lifestyle change for the positive, and it can only help. Woo!

[Seraph]

Also, if you're on Reddit, they've got some fantastic info. r/Fitness has a whole FAQ about weight loss, health, and fitness myths. I learned a lot from them.

Sidenote: Even Schwarznegger loves r/fitness.

Side-sidenote: Whatever you do, don't visit r/foodporn. Or r/dessertporn. I was drooling for hours. ><

[bhskittykatt]

I am not a salad lover. I am not a cook, either. So here are some added suggestions:

Make a veggie stir-fry and serve it over rice. You can even get frozen stir-fry veggie mix, so it's super easy. Use a non-stick pan and some low-sodium soy sauce. You can even cook some diced-up chicken or pork or whatever to add to it. (Calamari?)

Smoothies. I use a banana for sweetness rather than adding sugar, then use fat-free milk and frozen berries/other fruit. Using frozen fruit will give it a nice texture without needed to add thickeners like yogurt. You can also sneak in veggies like spinach, kale, or parsley. They'll add a greenish tinge to the smoothie but you won't taste them. I like to make a smoothie for mornings when I'm short on time and need a breakfast in a to-go bottle.

Soups. Invest in a crockpot, and find some low-sodium veggie broth as a base. Add beans, veggies, spices, maybe some meats, throw it all in there, and let it cook all day. You can find lots of easy crockpot recipes that are loaded with veggies and are low-cal. Beans are filling, and soups are filling, so it's a win-win.

I have not tried this myself, but Hubs says he dips kale in hummus and loves it to snack on. Me, I'm more of a carrot/celery person. Peanut butter and hummus are two excellent dips for veggies, and others of course have mentioned salsa and homemade guac. One of my favorite things is to take the ingredients for ants-on-a-log to work and spend part of my break assembling my snack. You are never too old for ants-on-a-log!

[kpzra]

Don't forget spaghetti squash. I've made mac n cheese with it before but it takes any sauce very well. Just make sure it is cooked all the way through or it can be a bit crunchy.

[Seshat]

"salad" does not require lettuce. Of any sort.

Start with any edible vegetation. Marinade or garnish his meat. Spice it. Herb it. Herbs and spices contain a surprising amount of micronutrients.

Add rice, pasta, and other grains. As whole as you can get him to eat them. Serve a herbed burger patty on a bun.

Add relish.

Add some mushroom.

Make a sauce for steak: cook a zucchini or two, mix with a teaspoon of olive oil (contains essential fatty acids), blend. Divide into two portions, mix one portion with the drippings from the steak, leave the other portion untouched. Serve him the meat with a bit of both - let him decide which he prefers. Next time you'll know whether to use the drippings or not.

Try the above with other blendable veggies.
Or a mix of veggies.

Make 'bubble and squeak' - or what my mother called bubble and squeak. Mashed potato and mashed carrot, mixed together but loosely (so there were orange bits and white bits).
Try that with other mashable veggies than potato and carrot.

Try each veggie raw, steamed, boiled, stir-fried, pan-fried, microwaved and roasted. Each type of cooking brings out a different flavour and texture. If you have a greengrocer, he or she will know which veggies can be prepared which way/s.

Ultimately, you'll want him eating root, stem/branch, leaf, flower, seed pod and seed; and dark green, white, ideally orange/yellow, and at least one miscellaneous colour. He should be eating this range over the course of a week.
Some people say 'day', but use herbs and spices in your cooking and you'll be surprised how many parts of a plant - and how many colours - you add in.

"flower?" I hear you say. "We don't eat flowers!" Cauliflower and broccoli are flowers - well, bundles of florets. Cloves are flower buds. Saffron is stamens....

[dalesys]

"flower?" I hear you say. "We don't eat flowers!"

Artichokes are thistle flower buds... and a great excuse for drinking hollandaise sauce.

Which my mother always made fresh. The closest I've come to a beating as an adult was the Christmas I gifted her a bottle of hollandaise sauce mix.

[Gizmo]

I was thinking something like Stuffed peppers etc - you can mix in meats, cheese etc and disguise a lot of the healthy stuff. Not sure how well he'd do on texture though.

[Crescent Cat]

Wow, I was not expecting to get this many replies! Thanks guys, thought I feel a little overwhelmed with information and suggestions. I haven't had a chance to thoroughly read all of them but there are a few things I'd like to reply to.

1. I will not sneak veggies into his food. My husband is something of a food snob and can tell right away if something is not right with his food. I tried giving him cauliflower mashed "potatoes" once and he noticed right away. He does not like having people try to sneak things into his food. He gets pretty mad since he feels like he's being treated like a child. In a way he his, but at the same time he's sort of acting like a child. Just eat your fucking broccoli and get over it.

2. Olives are a no go. No olive of any kind is acceptable.

3. We are planning on exercising regularly. He's actually more interested in that than eating well. I'd like to start him out slowly so he doesn't injure his joints. Also, I really don't like the idea of working his heart too hard when his blood pressure is so high. I'm planning on having us both take a 20 minute walk every evening.

[Food Lady]

I haven't read all the responses, so I don't know if anyone has thought of this, but I think we're trying to go at it via the wrong angle. I'm not totally adverse to salads, but I really don't like them, either. I like veggies, just not raw ones. That's ok. Greens are great for you. They can be sliced very thin and put in soup. I really won't eat kale or bok choy any other way. I do prefer my spinach raw, but if hubs doesn't, put it cannellini soup. It's really good. I hate, hate, hate raw carrots, but roast them at 400° for 20 minutes and I can't stop eating them. I use olive oil because I'm not so concerned with volume of fat as I am volume of saturated, polyunsaturated, and monounsaturated fats in the diet. I do a saute of zucchini, onions (you can leave them out and use onion powder), and celery in butter and olive oil with Italian herbs. It's awesome over mashed potatoes on the side of baked chicken (fake chicken in my case). Really, though, roasting veggies is easy, especially in a toaster oven so you don't have to heat up the big oven. I've been known to eat them cold leftover, too. Yum.

[Barracuda]

Try making a nice leek soup (great in a cream based soup, and very mild.) If he doesn't like cucumbers, get him pickles! Not only do they have a lot of the nutrients, they also are a great source of vitamin C due to the brine. Mushrooms are a tasty thing to have in salad, and a salad doesn't HAVE to have a greens base. But, you could try baby spinach that has been washed; that can be tasty. As for onion, you might try related veggies--shallots, green onion (scallions) fennel, and leeks have a lot of the same value for nutrients. Red onion is good too, and tastes different than white or yellow onion. Try eating Greek or Middle Eastern; felafel doesn't taste like veggies, but it's got them in there. Same with hummus or baba ganouj; absolutely delicious, but doesn't taste like veggies! As for dressings, if you do go salad route, try making a nice homemade vinaigrette--it's easy. Take any fat and any acid in equal amounts (vinegar and oil is the most common combo) and whisk equal amounts together until creamy in texture. Then add herbs, or fish sauce or soy in limited quantities, and voila! Fruit juice makes a great acid when mixed with olive or grapeseed oil, and you can add a little salt and pepper to the dressing too. Experiment! I have several recipes for dressing, including one for Thai dressing and one for Filipino. Both good!

[sms001]

1. I will not sneak veggies into his food....Just eat your fucking broccoli and get over it.

Tell him up front. I wouldn't go for anything you already know he doesn't like, but he does know the two of you are making changes and that you'll probably be in an experimental phase for a while, figuring out what does and doesn't fit the new lifestyle.
Good thing about so many of these suggestions is that the "experiments" are pretty inexpensive; you can try something and if it doesn't cut the mustard, you can finish the rest of the plate and try something else the next day.

But I like the second option up there too.