O K R A (not an acronym, just a vegetable)

Most people “hate” okra, but I happen to love it. I can eat it cooked anyway, whether its boiled, in stews, or in casseroles. However, my favorite dish is fried okra (with fresh tomatoes on the side). I grew up eating okra so that is probably why I like it so much.

We planted a garden every spring, and okra was always included. Picking okra is definitely not as much fun as eating it. The okra plant is lovely. The flowers are big and white and look like hibiscus, but picking okra off the plant can require perseverance because the plant is very prickly and the okra itself is so sticky. You have to wash your hands and arms thoroughly and immediately after picking it, or you will be itching and scratching for a long time.

Nutrition-wise okra is high in dietary fiber (6 boiled pods have 2.5 grams), and it has a lot of vitamins such as A, C, K, B6, and minerals such as folate, calcium, magnesium, and potassium. All of this nutrition would surprise most people because who would think that it has any good value to it?

Now, fried okra is probably not the way to get the best nutrition okra has to offer, but since I don’t eat many fried foods in general, surely a little fried okra every now and then is okay. Mama makes the world’s best fried okra, cut into little round circles and coated with corn meal, salt, and pepper. She fries it just right until it is golden brown. Oh, it is so good.

Since Mama is older now, and she doesn’t cook very much, I have tried fried okra at several restaurants. I have found that The Charlotte Café in the Park Road Shopping Center cooks their fried okra very close to the way Mama cooks it. They also serve a “mean” okra and tomato stew that is so good. I would highly recommend trying their okra dishes, especially if you want to live dangerously and try some of that awful, yucky okra.