Struggle to eat Veg & Salad

Discussions around diet come up quite often on NAS and I would like to share my experience in the hope that there will be some great suggestions.

To set the scene, I am a 53 year old high later life diagnosed, functioning male who really struggles with eating the vast majority of veg and salads.
I have always been considered to be a fussy eater and this was especially difficult when growing up as my parents made me eat all manner of foods that I really struggled with, even to the point of being physically sick. This also had a considerable negative affect on my emotional state, Even in my 20's when my wife and I went to my parent for Christmas dinner I was made to eat at least one Brussel sprout , something that I was traumatised about and even still gets joked about at Christmas time. Obviously my younger years were a long time ago, if the were to happen i9n this day and age, you could potentially argument a point of child /disability abuse/ Of course, I was know to being autistic back then.

Anyway, I am trying to improve my diet to supplement my commitment to working out at the gym.
But when it comes to Veg & Salad, i only eat the following - either because of texture issue, taste, or appearance - most often a combination of 2 or 3.

WHAT I DO / CAN EAT
Potatoes (in all forms - mashed, chipped, baked (no so keen)
Carrots (must be well boiled to removed the crunch and the majority of the taste)
Tomatoes (small amounts on a pizza /other dishes)
Pepper (se tomatoes)
Little bit of lettuce in a burger 

Fruits I don't seem to have a problem with generally
Bananas
Apples
Strawberries, blackberries (most berries)
Pears I hate the texture
Orange (ok when I have cold)

The challenge with fruit is that I don eat it every day.

Do other members have similar struggles?
Any suggestions  - maybe some smoothie recipes? Although, simply knowing that there are ingredients in a smoothie could be enough for me to not be able to drink it.