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I just had to force myself. Grape tomatoes were the first ones, and after I made myself try them a few times, I realized they were actually good. I still don't care for them on sandwiches. They're nice baked, sliced on pizza, or in caprese salad.

It's hard to relate, since tomatoes were my bedtime snack when I was a child. Have you tried them with a little mayo, sour cream, ranch or bleu cheese dressing. or some melted brie on a sandwich? Just add s&p and some crisp lettuce. The white dressings/cheese cut the acid. Keep an eye out for heirloom tomatoes or beefsteak - they are so delicious this time of year!

JerzzeTomato, speaking of homemade dressings...what are some tasty ones?

I too have never been a fan of plain/raw tomatoes. Love salsa, tomato sauce for pasta, etc...but chunks of tomato repelled me. I now find that it helps to scoop out the pulpy seed part. The firm flesh has a more pleasant texture to me than the slimy seed pulp. Also, I tend to stick w/ Roma tomatoes. For some reason those are more appetizing. Have you tried bruschetta? Also caprese salad w/ the mozzarella, tomato and fresh basil is delicious.

For me, de-pulping/seeding and chopping into smaller pieces so the pieces hide better in whatever helps a great deal. I second dbcurrie....try a barely cooked sauce for pasta w/ fresh tomatos. Oh, and lots of garlic helps, too. They will never be my favorite, but I do eat a lot more than I used to . Good luck!

My kids hated them until I started growing them in the garden. They got to feed and watch those babies grow..all that hard work and of course they couldn't wait to eat them!

For the tomato-pea pod-onion combo even a french dressing works, simple vingarette, an asian ginger-sesame. I have made it with all dressings (aside of cheese ones but hey why not try if they like cheese)

Just remember to salt and weep the tomatoes. An unsalted tomato is a crime. Fresh tomatoes even ripe get a perfect benefit from a salting.
Slice them, lay them out on paper towels and liberally salt them on both sides and then let them sit for 10-15 mins and weep. Pat your slices lightly and then your ready to rock and roll.

If you're trying to eat raw rather than cooked tomatoes mainly for the health benefits, I'd strongly disagree that tomatoes are better for you raw--actually the concentration of the nutrients in paste and even organic ketchup enhances their nutritional value, I believe. Also, for most of the year, canned tomatoes in season are preferred even by most chefs that I know.

I think it's great you're expanding your palate, but cooking and food shouldn't be medicine--eat healthfully, but also eat what you like, and eat a variety--it's okay to like some vegetables and means of preparation better than others, so long as you don't eliminate an entire food group like 'I hate veggies.'

I second the recommendation for SunGold tomatoes. They're deliciously sweet and juicy. Another recommendation: only eat tomatoes in season, and locally grown - it will make all the difference in the world as far as flavor and texture. (Basically, I second ChelleyD01's recommendation - I wish I had a garden nearby where I could munch on tomatoes right off the vine!)

But if you really still don't like them, don't worry about trying to force yourself. Lots of other foods contain lycopene (like watermelon and pink grapefruit), and it's only one of dozens of phytochemicals implicated in preventing cancer. Tomatoes are actually one of the more controversial foods when it comes to the relationship between food and health - full of vitamins and antioxidants, but also, because they're nightshades, implicated in aggravating inflammatory conditions like arthritis. Lots of mainstream western doctors have arthritis patients eliminating nightshades from their diets to good result. I rarely eat tomatoes (though I love them) because they give me canker sores - it only took me 28 years to figure it out!

Though I have to disagree with HeartofGlass. Food is one of the most effective tools we can use to manage our health: it's literally the substance from which our bodies are built, so by eating healthfully and according to our own personal needs, we can drastically improve our physical health and mental well-being. Eating a variety of vegetables and fruits in quantity, some cooked, some raw, is vitally important to maintaining good health.

While intuition can play a role in our choices, most of us have grown up on too many processed foods to be able to rely completely on it when it comes to dietary choices for health. E.g., sea vegetables are almost completely absent from the American diet and don't agree with most American palates (including mine, but I'm trying), but they're an incredibly rich source of minerals that are rare from other food sources. The impetus to add more healthy foods to one's diet, even when they're not something you immediately like, is a terrific first step in strengthening your personal relationship between food and health.

You didn't explain why you have difficulty biting into a raw tomato in a salad. Is it a concern about acid? A texture thing?

As many folks have already pointed out, the best way to insure that you'll like the tomato is to make sure it's as ripe as possible. Also, try to avoid refrigerating the tomato if you can - the fridge will deaden the flavor (Alton Brown did a bit on this).

If the skin or seeds are problematic, you can easily remove them. Cut a shallow "x" in the bottom of the tomato. Then drop it into boiling water for about 10 seconds. Remove it to an ice water bath to shock it. The skin should easily peel off. Then you can deseed and chop it.

My favorite dressing for raw tomatoes is olive oil, sherry vinegar and a touch of Dijon mustard (salt and pepper to taste). Salt is important to raw tomatoes because it will help to bring out the natural sweetness. Good luck!

I eat almost anything but I won't eat raw tomatoes or chunky tomatoes. Its a texture thing. Strangely almost all of my food dislikes are texture rather than taste related.

My texture dislikes don't even make sense to a lot of people. I'll eat clams, squid, mushrooms, oysters and other things many people dislike because of their texture but I find the texture of peaches, pears, and plums to be revolting.

Yes, I probably need some sort of psychiatrist haha

You'll definitely get a better content from tomatoes if you either eat them raw or sundried--

Have you tried Salsa? It is good on EVERYTHING from eggs, to sandwiches, almost any starch...maybe that could be a good one for you.

Also roasting them IS heavenly (well said mepolo) and also very versatile.
I enjoy tomatoes right from the vine straight up as well (or dice'em up with some balsamic, EVOO, basil leaves and fresh mozza; a classic!)

Good luck!

simple bruschetta made with ripe roma tomatoes, minced garlic, basil, kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, and olive oil. i was not a tomato eater until this dish. during the tomato "crisis" this year i found myself craving a good tomato. very thankful for the farmer's market.

@bobbob -- you're not alone! it's that mushy grainy factor that really makes it difficult for me to like a food, even if the flavor doesn't bother me. i am so with you on that!

I don't have any recipes for you but being vegetarian, they are a nice alternative to bacon or sausage with breakfast. Try very thin slices on top of scrambeled eggs, lightly salted and peppered, or a half of a tomato cut up into chunks, seasoned the same way. If you can, go to a farmer's market or see if you know anybody who grows them at home. The taste of fresh tomatoes as opposed to store-bought is like night and day.

For cooking, you might want to try passata (crushed tomatoes that have been strained to remove the seeds). It's usually sold in bottles or aseptic packaging (tetra paks). I prefer it to canned crushed tomatoes for use in sauces, as it usually doesn't have citric acid added and so has a slightly "mellower" flavour when cooked.

Nothing beats a freshly picked tomato, though, as others have noted. Comparing home grown vs. grocery store tomatoes is roughly like comparing fresh pineapple vs. canned pineapple. It's the same fruit, but a totally, totally different flavour profile.

If you're looking for a starter recipe, you could try Veg Times' Rustic Tomato Galette. I've got dozens of tomatoes now ripening on the vine and I can't wait to galette 'em. :-)

I thought I hated tomatoes (they made me retch as a kid) until I discovered it wasn't tomatoes I hated, it was tasteless, supermarket tomatoes. The big watery beefsteak ones. An heirloom tomato has a much different taste (and appearance).

The small yellow and green ones are pretty much the opposite of what I hated as a kid, and psychologically, I can deal with the anticipation of putting a dreaded tomato into my mouth much better if it looks different.

I'm a former tomato hater, too. Try slicing them really thin or small dice. That's a good way to get started. In summer I'm a huge an of caprese salad alternating sliced tomatoes with fresh buffalo mozarella, fresh basil leaves and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil (I almost typed EVOO to save time, but realized how wrong that would be) and balsamic vinegar.

Have you tried sneaking tomatoes into your sandwiches and hamburgers?

Tomatoes are one of my favorite foods!

As other people have already said, the caprese with great Italian mozzarella di bufala is simple and *amazing*.