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Spatula Diaries: Okra is best when roasted

Photo by Maggie Heyn Richardson.

When you start seeing okra, you know the summer harvest is on its way out. Only the hardiest crops hang around in this kind of withering heat. It’s often one of the last vegetables available until fall, so how do you put it good use?

Indeed, fried is absolutely delicious. Stewed down with tomatoes is an essential part of the Louisiana table. Pickled appeals to the masses and is perfect with charcuterie or a Bloody Mary. But for everyday enjoyment, there is no tastier, healthier, faster or easier way to prepare okra than by roasting it in a hot oven.

The steps are simple and straightforward. Even if you’re not wild about it, roasting it will make you a believer. Remember kale chips a few years ago? Everybody starting preparing them because it was a way to transformative something assertive and vegetal into something sweet and tempting. Same thing.

Here’s how you do it.

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Wash, dry and trim the stems of whole okra. Drizzle on a small amount of olive oil and a few sprinkles of Kosher salt. Place on a cookie sheet, ensuring there isn’t excess oil on the pan. Roast for 15 minutes. Now sample. The slime has been roasted away, leaving each okra tender, neatly browned and with a gentle nutty flavor.