Hi Jeri! Your boyfriend sounds like my hubby! My hubby has gotten to the point where he will eat the food I make with tomatoes but he will have a neat pile of uneaten tomatoes on the side of his plate 😉 You can really substitute any vegetable that you are interested in! I love salads like this because any vegetable goes really well. If you are looking for another vegetable that is red, I bet red peppers would taste really good and have the same vibrant color! Or you could add diced cucumber. Or, just omit the tomato and add more of the other ingredients! Let me know what you end up doing! Good luck!