I don’t like eggplant’s texture either. Just like I can’t eat mushrooms because they are like slimy erasers - but I love cooking them and love the aroma.
I like recipes that ‘hide’ the eggplant, like parmigiana that has them crispy fried, then layered with cheese and sauce. Or moussaka with lots of meat sauce and béchamel.
Basically, you cook eggplant to turn it into something else - just as you do with mushrooms. They’re bland and have odd texture but soak up the flavor of meat, vegetables, cheese and tomato sauce really well. In my opinion, of course.