Crispy Okra

Ingredients

16 oz pkg cut frozen Okra or 1 ½ - 2 c cut fresh Okra (reduces to 1 c)

1 teaspoon Garlic flavored Olive Oil

¼ - ½ teaspoon Garlic Salt

¼ - ½ teaspoon Onion Salt

dash Rred Pepper

Directions

For frozen Okra – thoroughly thaw first.  Rinse in strainer or colander, removing as much of the jelly-like sticky stuff as possible.  Drain well, squeezing out as much of the water/sticky stuff as you can.

In a large pan coated with ½ teaspoon of Oil, cook Okra until crispy, just after the rest of the sticky stuff has been cooked away, stirring often.  Add the other ½ teaspoon of Oil half way through the cooking when Okra begins to stick to the pan.  Once crispy, reduce the heat and add spices, distributing them evenly in the pan.

Makes 1 serving.

Abstinent Measuring

1 serving = 1 vegetable and 1 teaspoon fat

*contribution from Area II Cookbook 2004

Okra & Mushrooms

I was not born or raised in the South.  To me Okra was cornbread battered and deep-fried with lots of salt.  I didn’t like the “slimy” texture of some cooked okra dishes…just looking at them caused me to turn up my nose.  BUT, I’ve experimented and asked the natives questions.  And I have come to appreciate and love fresh Okra…especially in the summer when it’s fresh at Farmers Market.  See Notes below for decreasing the “slimy factor.”

Ingredients

2 lbs fresh Okra, sliced into 1 ½ inch pieces

1 lbs fresh white Mushrooms, sliced

3 fresh Carrots, sliced diagonally into 14 inch ovals

1 large Red Bell Pepper

1 medium Yellow Onion

2 cloves to 2 TBLSpoon Garlic, minced, your taste

2-3 TBLspoons Olive Oil

1-28oz can diced Tomatoes or Rotel Tomatoes

1 teaspoon Sea Salt

Optional

1 TBLspoon Brown Mustard seed & 1 teaspoon Cumin seed

Or  1 teaspoon Mrs. Dash or other spice mix

3 stalks Celery, diced

1-2 Jalapeno Peppers, minced

Directions

Place Olive Oil, Carrots, Yellow Onions and Garlic in large covered pan on medium heat.  Sauté until Onions turn translucent.  Add Salt, other spices of your choice and the Okra.  Stir well and replace cover.  Stir occasionally and cook until Okra well heated and turning a little softer.  Add Mushrooms and Peppers, mix well, replace cover and cook (with occasional stirring) until Okra is just starting to turn a darker shade of green.  Add Tomatoes.  Cook another 5-10 minutes, until it’s had a chance to get bubbly hot and has melded together.  Serve Hot.

Abstinent Measuring

1 cup = 1 vegetable

Notes

1.       Spices: I think only Salt is necessary, especially if using Rotel Tomatoes.  But I’ve used either Brown Mustard/Cumin OR Mrs. Dash and the results were equally tasty

2.      Slimyness:  I’ve discovered that the smaller the Okra pieces and the more over-cooked the Okra the slimier the dish.  Also adding the Tomatoes at the end reduces the slimy-factor.  The acid in the Tomatoes does the trick… but can be defeated by prolonged cooking.