Experimenting with Okra

I do not love Chinese okra. But I'm going to tell you about it anyway.

We stopped at the farmer's market on the way back from yoga at the beach (it was so fun to do it outside!). I saw this and asked the market lady what it was. The conversation went like this:

Me: What is this?

Market Lady: It's Chinese okra.

Me: How would you suggest preparing it?

Market Lady: Just like okra. ::pause while I stare at her:: So you peel off the ridges, season it, and bake it for 8 minutes. Or 25. 

Me: ::stares blankly:: Ummm...okay. Thanks!

I turned to my cousins in confusion. 8 or 25 minutes? Huh? Alli was equally confused. Kate said that the lady actually said, "Bake it for 8 minutes at 425." Oh. Right.

Mom gave us 2 eggplants from her garden to roast with the okra. They were the highlight. Not the okra. As soon as I told her we got okra, she wrinkled her nose and warned me that okra sometimes gets slimy when it's cooked. It did.

It looked like zucchini when I cut it. So far, so good.

It still looked like zucchini when I peeled it and sliced it.

I think the lady led me astray. I should've stir-fried it like I originally thought. But instead I seasoned it with salt, black pepper, and garlic powder before popping it in the oven.

We got a larger eggplant at the market, too, and I cut it in half, roasted it, and then hollowed it out. I mixed the insides with a crumbled up a slice of Angela's Ultimate Vegan Lentil Walnut Loaf. I made a loaf before we came down and froze it. It traveled well and I just reheated it in the oven while I was cooking the eggplant and okra.

Still not slimy.

Ew. It just looks nasty. The flavor was really good (very similar to zucchini), but we couldn't get over the texture.

Luckily we had the lentil walnut loaf and a nice big salad to go with it!