<p>I didn’t realize that there were so many ‘enemies of the state’ as concerns okra, lurking here on CC.</p>
<p>Didn’t care much for okra as a kid. Mama usually prepared it in a soupy concoction with black eyed peas. But I have learned to love fresh crunchy okra pods. Usually chop 'em up, sprinkle on olive oil, garlic and salt and sautee them. Can’t understand all you subversives who distain these wonderfully bright green pods. Saintfan indeed! Surrender your gumbo pot, your catfish pole and your iron skillet. LOL.</p>
<p>Okra is used in Singaporean Fishhead Curry. It must be cooked spicy. You could do it sour and clear (tom yum style) with lots of salsa and chili peppers, or tom kha style with lots of coconut milk.</p>
<p>I used to hate okra, but that’s because my ex-dad never cooked it properly.</p>
<p>I think the Indians have the right idea, cut it in bit size pieces and stir fry it quickly with spices. We cooked it pretty often that way last summer after having had it at one of our local Indian restaurants. </p>
<p>As for your growing issues, you probably don’t have enough sun or it wasn’t warm enough at night yet.</p>
<p>Hey, I went to a Thai restaurant in the South recently and they had an okra side dish (I guess this was a salute to the region). It was dang good! And I don’t like okra! It was called Okra Masala. Yum.</p>
<p>3 of the 4 of us in the family LOVE okra. We do cook it with tomatoes because it tastes better that way & doesn’t have “slime.” It is great in soups as well. Of course because S is not a fan, that leaves more for D, H & me. We stir fry it sometimes (often with tomato because it really is a good combo), as we cook many veggies, sometimes with a bit of meat & sometimes without.</p>
<p>OK,
I only ever had okra once and didn’t like it. Now it seems many others don’t, either. I’m trying to lose weight. I think I’ll just read this thread whenever I want to avoid eating.</p>
<p>What green vegetables do people eat? There aren’t too many different kinds, green beans, broccoli, cauliflowers, brussel sprouts, asparagus, and okra. And leafy greens. Not enough to rotate over a week. I would hate eating the same within a week.</p>
<p>Our mainstays are broccoli, brussel sprouts, asparagus, cauliflower, red pepper strips (not green, but a veggie), green or red cabbage wedges, tomato wedges, spinach (I buy Trader Joes frozen as I am a bad spinach washer - can never get it clean!) and romain.</p>
<p>Okay, it goes well with fish heads. I’m not trying that one either.
Someone mentioned it as a one pot meal. I think two pots–one for the okra and another for the stuff you actually want to eat.</p>
<p>What can I say? To each his own. We’d rather eat okras than cabbages in my household. I love leafy greens but real pain to prepare/wash. I buy pre-washed spinach. Unfortunately, you need a mountain of them to make a cup or two after cooked.</p>
<p>Mathmom, it’s probably the lack of warm nights, but that has changed all of a sudden in the past day or two because this morning two of the okra seedlings looked remarkably better after the very warm and humid overnight weather. One of them must have grown at least 2 inches since Memorial Day.</p>
<p>Regarding other green vegetables, I’ve got to disagree that preparing leafy greens are hard work. Doesn’t take much effort to cut out the stems of Swiss Chard and Beet Greens, which I eat regularly. Now I’ll admit that cleaning Collard Greens is a hassle, which is why I cook collards only a few times a year. The other green vegetables that I try to include in my weekly menu are zucchini and green bell pepper. Nearly every night I start dinner with a salad of Romaine or Red Leaf lettuce with sliced tomatoes and cucumber. In the summer I grow sugar snap peas and eat the whole pod.</p>
<p>Igloo, there are many variety of green beans but you may be restricted to farmers’ markets to find more than the supermarket variety. You may want to try to grow your own green beans and peas. Very easy to grow at home.</p>
<p>Oh I completely forgot about zuchini!!! The veggie that everyone loves and is fast to fix (and prolific). We have not a hint of a southern in our family but lots of German and Irish - that’s likely where the love of cabbage and other cruciferous veggies comes in.</p>
<p>LW - It’s the cleaning part that’s pain with leafy greens. I love them sauteed with garlic and olive oil. They do spill out of a pan at the beginning and turn into almost nothing at the end.</p>
<p>I think it’s easier to clean leafy greens if you submerge them in a big bowl of water, instead of rinsing them in a colander. I like dandelion greens sauteed in olive oil and garlic as above, but with a few red pepper flakes thrown in.</p>
We stir fry it sometimes (often with tomato because it really is a good combo), as we cook many veggies, sometimes with a bit of meat & sometimes without.</p>