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My husband doesn't like and won't try anything even faintly exotic.  To say he is "meat and potatoes" is an understatement. I'm tired of making dishes that he doesn't like won't eat, no kale, quinoa, no lentils, no curry, etc..  Can anyone suggest a cookbook that has just plain American dishes? 

How about introducing him to cooking FOR YOU! Or have him make a New Year resolution that he will at least "try" something new each month! Or try send him off to a barbecue cooking class for men...or if you have kids and Dad's and Children's cooking class for an event such as easter, Mother's day etc etc.

But for a "basic" cookbook, not specifically American : Jamie's Ministry of Food is designed for the very purpose!! And he can take on the cooking task along teh way!!

Good Luck!!

That must be so frustrating! 

I think deb has a good idea about BBQ.  I really like the cookbook "dinosaur barbeque" - my husband bought it for me, and he has liked almost every recipe that I've tried (and I have tried quite a few). 

I heard somewhere that a person has to try an unusual flavor or texture at least 7 times before they will like it.  With my kids, I will often prepare something I know they will like, and a second more challenging dish.  They only have to try a bit of the more challenging thing, but over time, they have embraced a much broader diversity of flavors.

Maybe start with a cookbook that has some pretty basic "American" recipes such as The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook.  These books have great basic American foods but also have some more "exotic" recipes.  Have your husband go through and choose some new recipes that he'd be willing to try.  Then you go through and choose a few recipes that you'd like to try.  I bet if you worked together yoou could come up with some new things to try.

Oh I think Beth has a great idea!

You can find reviews of many of the recipes by following this link:

http://www.cookbooker.co...avy-duty-revised-edition

Best of luck.

A friend's now-former husband refused to touch, wouldn't even look at, leftovers or stew.  My advice was call it something else, aka, Boeuf Bourguignon, cottage/shepherd's pie, pot pie (whatever).  I understand he thought in their native states, those stews and leftovers weren't special enough.

While you probably won't convert your husband to spicy, Asian foods, with judicious renaming, French, Italian, Spanish dishes could perhaps keep life in the kitchen a little more interesting for both of you.

We used to have a friend who thought the three food groups were meat, potatoes and chocolate. He was from Texas originally and probably grew up with extremely plain cooking.  Once I realized what was going on with him I made sure to include something really fun and flavorful that wasn't meat, potatoes or chocolate whenever we had him and his wife over for dinner.  It got to be kind of a game with my husband and myself to see if we could get him to try something new.  Even if Mr. Picky didn't like something at least the other folks enjoyed it and I think his wife really enjoyed getting away from the plain stuff.  After many years it began to work as he discovered new things that he liked.  I think part of the trick is not to continue to cater to a picky eater.  If they don't like what you serve, they can cook themselves or go hungry.  I also used to work with a woman who had a huge list of things she wouldn't eat which made going out to lunch a real challenge and a bore.  One day as she was refusing to try something I asked why she didn't like it and when she had last tasted it.  It turns out she hadn't tried the food since she was a child and upon tasting as an adult just loved it.  Some people are just close-minded and not very adventuresome but can learn to eat more foods if someone gives them a bit of a push.

After thinking about this a bit more I wanted to add that I have come to realize that many of the picky eaters I have encountered are not always picky just because of flavors but sometimes because it is a control issue.  So with that in mind you simply cannot confront them head on but like other commenters mentioned you have to approach them like you do with small children and not make a big issue out of trying new things but rather just keep making them attractive and available.  I think we all remember trying to make our children try something they didn't want to try - it always became a big tussle and rarely was a success.  But offering something new and tasty but not making a big deal out of it often worked.  My children are good with most flavors and vegetables and have been for many years but they were introduced to many things as they grew up without pressure.  I don't think you should totally frustrate and deprive yourself of interesting and nutritious foods but make meals with a variety of dishes that will satisfy both of you.  Give him plain meat and make a lovely sauce to put on your serving.  And when he isn't going to be home for a meal you can go wild with kale and curry!