I LOVE OKRA!

I do. I truly love okra! Many people say it's slimy and full of seeds or tough and woody. Face it, okra has a bad rap! It's a misunderstood little veggie that is held in suspicion by much of the general public, at least here in the US. I'm here to tell you folks, DO NOT BE AFRAID! Okra will not hurt you, not even if you fell on it!

Okra is known by many names around the world, mostly "okra", "Lady Fingers", "gumbo", "quingombo" or "bhindi" to name a few.

It is a big, leafy plant with thick stalks and a GORGEOUS flower! Seriously folks, how could something this beautiful and perfect not be good for you???

And the fact is, okra has about as many uses as it has names and varieties. Most Americans that have tried okra have probably had it deep-fried in batter, which is awesome, but that's just the tip of the iceberg! You can throw it in gumbo, mix it with corn for an amazing casserole, saute with onions and various spices for a Bhindi Masala (which I'm probably making for dinner tonight), pickled okra, fried okra with potatoes, hell you can do almost anything with okra if you're creative! One of my favorite ways is Southern Fried okra. We're not talking deep fried in a caky batter, we're talking about rolling damp okra around in mostly cornmeal with a dab of flour, salt, pepper, paprika (if you're so inclined) and lightly sauteing in olive oil. It's best to use a good ol' wrought iron skillet! I could make an entire meal of that, in fact I did about 2 days ago! Mmmmm!

Okra is absolutely bursting with goodness! It is super high in fiber, it's a good source of sodium, B6 and folic acid, not to mention the benefits of the mucin inside. The mucin is great for soothing the GI tract and helping keep joints limber. I'm crappin' you negative people, okra ROCKS! So if you see a batch at your local farmer's market, give it a try! Fresh okra is obviously way better than frozen, but I do admit, it's hard to find fresh, henceforth why I'm growing my own. In my humble opinion, summer just isn't summer without fresh okra! And if you're a fellow okra connoisseur, I would love to see what awesome recipes you have!