Friday, July 31, 2009

Oven Fried Okra




I am not an expert on okra. Nor am I a true Southerner.

My father-in-law showed up the other day with fresh okra, tomatoes, and squash that he had picked from the garden.

My only memories of okra as a child were not good ones. My grandpa had a huge garden and he grew everything imaginable. I mean everything. The only way he ever served okra was stewed. It was gluey, it was sticky, it was gross. Therefore, okra disappeared from my life for awhile.

Then, I married a Southerner. He loves fried okra. I have learned to like it and have made it a couple of times. Only on special occasions- like his birthday, or when someone is visiting or something like that because I don't like to fry food at home.

So, with all the okra I received, I didn't know what to do. I started looking through cookbooks and found this recipe for Oven Fried Okra from Cooking Light.
It sounded good and I was very curious to see how it would compare to the usual fried kind.

You slice the okra, soak it in buttermilk, then dredge it in cornmeal, which has a hit of cayenne, and oven fry it for about 40 minutes.

I thought it was good. Not as crunchy as fried, but still good. My kids and hubby liked it too.

But, I am not a Southerner, so I didn't mind that it wasn't just like fried okra. Some of the people who reviewed this recipe were not pleased. (you can rate and review recipes on myrecipes)

If you do make this, make sure when you are dredging the okra in the coating, that it doesn't get on there too thick. That happened to some of my pieces and they were a little dry.

I thought this made a good snack and was a nice alternative to fried okra. What do you do with okra? If you have a fave recipe, please share!


Recipe for Oven Fried Okra


10 comments:

Maria said...

I am not a huge okra fan but I like the way you prepared this!

Chef Jeena said...

It certainly looks delicious to me Mary Ann.

Lucky you to have grown up around so many fresh vegetables.

Kerstin said...

I've only had okra a couple of times and have never attempted to make it myself - yours looks so good!

Miss B said...

I like to pickle okra. They are soooo good!

Anonymous said...

I've never had fried okra, but oven-fried definitely sounds healthier. I've actually only have had okra in stews/soups.

Kim said...

Ooooh, we love it! Just got okra in our CSA box this week, too. Thanks for blogging this recipe.

-- the Cooking Light eds

Aggie said...

I will only eat okra fried or in gumbo. I too am not a true Southerner so okra was new to me...but fried is good! I would much rather have it Oven Fried though!!

La Cuisine d'Helene said...

This looks so yummy. I tried okra in soups but never this way.

Nithya said...

I found your blog when browsing Tastespotting. We in India use Okra in many delicious dishes and even the children here really love it. Do try out some of our recipes. This one's my favourite: http://www.ivu.org/recipes/indian-veg/bhindi.html

Unknown said...

We love fried okra, but like you, I hate it fried, I have never tried it in the oven, however I do alot of fresh veggies in the oven.. I just received an air fryer, I think I am going to try this method. I love doing potatoes in there, like tater tots or french fries. Makes them really crispy.. Going to try that. Thanks for the recipe