Creole Okra

This recipe combines the most treasured bounty of a summer garden — peppers, okra, and tomatoes — in a delicious side dish. It’s always good served next to rice on a plate, or if you really like it, serve it over rice in big bowl for simple one-dish summer meal.

Creole Okra

This recipe combines the most treasured bounty of a summer garden — peppers, okra, and tomatoes — in a delicious side dish. Creole Okra is always good served next to rice on a plate, or if you really like it, serve it over rice in big bowl for simple one-dish summer meal.

Yield: 5 small servings

Ingredients

  • ½ cup onion, finely chopped
  • ½ cup bell pepper, finely chopped
  • 3 Tbsp bacon drippings or olive oil
  • 3 cups okra, sliced into ½-inch rounds
  • 3 cups tomatoes, chopped
  • ¼ cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
  • 4 tsp sugar
  • 1½ tsp salt
  • ¾ tsp black pepper
  • Juice of ½ lemon

Instructions

  • Sauté onion and pepper in drippings or oil until onions turn clear. Add okra.
  • Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes.
  • Stir in remaining ingredients, then simmer uncovered for 15 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and remove from heat.
  • Serve immediately.
Creole Okra Recipe
Creole Okra!

Featured Ingredient: Okra

Okra is a traditional favorite in southern cuisine, used in soups and stews, or pickled, roasted, or fried. Better yet, it can be eaten raw (and it's delicious!). Okra pods are full of magnesium, potassium, dietary fiber, and vitamins K and C. The plants love full sun and warm weather to grow, but will continue into the cooler months of fall. Once harvest time rolls around, check plants every day, as okra pods left on the plant will quickly grow long and tough. Pick them when they're small and tender. Learn how to add okra to your garden.

Recipe adapted from Southern and Then Some, a cookbook of the Alabama Farmers Cooperative, Inc.

Harvest okra pods often so they don’t grow too large and tough.
In hot weather, okra pods grow fast. Keep them harvested by cutting them off their short woody stems with scissors or clippers.