Local farmer's markets are selling beautiful okra, and the farmers tell me they sell a lot of it. That's odd to me; no matter how much I extol the virtues of freshly cooked okra, none of my friends seem to enjoy it.

It may be time to give this maligned and misunderstood vegetable another chance. Okra is not just a southern dish, my favorite Indian cookbooks are loaded with dozens of curried and charred okra recipes. African cookbooks, as well, are filled with delicious recipes for okra.

If it's the slime factor that turns you off, I've found fresh okra from our local farmers to be practically void of slime. From my experience, boxed frozen okra has the most slime. (Please excuse my unfortunate choice of the word - "slime" - to describe the texture of this delicious vegetable. Unfortunately, I can't come up with a more descriptive word.)

Today I'm recreating a healthier version of a dish I enjoyed as a child. In this recipe Mom cooked the okra in bacon fat and topped the finished dish with chopped bacon. Obviously that was delicious but we're cutting out the fat for tonight's dinner.

Wonderful served on a bed of basmati or brown rice.

Yield: 2-3 cups okra (4 servings w/rice)
Active Time: 15 minutes
Simmer Time: 30 minutes
Cost: apx. $8.00

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion or leek
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 orange or yellow bell pepper, seeded, membranes removed, chopped (1 cup)
1 teaspoon cajun or creole seasoning*
1 (16 ounce) can diced tomatoes in juice
1/2-3/4 pound fresh okra, washed and ends removed
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

* 1/4 teaspoon cayenne may be substituted for the creole seasoning

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Sauté the onion or leek and garlic 4 minutes, or until fragrant and just transparent. Add the pepper and creole seasoning; cook and stir until tender.
2. Add the tomatoes, and their juice, and okra and stir to incorporate into the vegetables. Cook for 25-35 minutes, or until okra is tender. In last minute of cooking time, stir in thyme and parsley.