Our Southern Odyssey’s Roasted Okra Article
Okra, I (Valancie) must say is one of my most favorite Southern foods. I love everything about okra. I love the plant with its large leaves and it beautiful medium size yellow flowers but most of all I love the food that it produces. My maternal Grandad and Grandmother would plant four long rows of okra 
when I was growing up. On Saturday my Mom and I would go and help gather the okra and just make a day of it. We would get up early in the morning during the summer, before it became so hot, and cut the okra pods off the plant, filling our 5 gallon buckets to the brim with okra. We would spend all day on Saturday gathering the okra in the morning and preparing and cooking it for the rest of the day. And even though we were working and it was hot I still had a lot of fun. After the okra was gathered we would wash, dry and cut all the okra up. There would be a mound of okra in the center of the kitchen table. We would then batter it and fry it in large cast iron skillets till it was nice and crunchy. We would tear off paper 
towels and lay them on large platters and take the newly fried okra and put it on the paper towels to absorb some of the oil and cool. The house would smell so good. We would nibble on okra all day, so by supper time we would be full. But, we would still keep us a bait out to eat the next day. As for the rest, we would fill our quart plastic bags with the fried okra and freeze it so that we could have okra during the winter.
I used to think, that the best way to eat okra was fried, like I had always eaten it, until I tried roasting them. Oh My Goodness – they are so good roasted. I do not know why we never tried roasting okra before? They have the flavor of the crunchy fried okra without all the fuss, which is a plus for me. The best part of this recipe is that you do not have to cut up the okra which saves a lot of time. Also you do not have to stand over a stove to cook it, you just pop the okra pods in the oven and in 20 minutes they are ready to eat. Super easy.
This recipe is Vegan, Grain Free, Nut Free and Gluten Free
How to make Roasted Okra for Supper
The key to this recipe is to make sure your okra pods are small. You want them tender. The larger the pod the tougher they are. If you are growing your own okra pick the okra when they are about 3” long. If you are buying them in the store look for packages that have smaller pods or if you can pick them 
out yourself, pick out the smaller ones. You will need about 25 small okra pods for this recipe. Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees. You will want your oven hot when you put the okra in. Now wash and trim the stems off the okra; however, make sure that you do not cut into the okra pods themselves. Dry the okra. Put the okra pods in a large 
bowl withavocado oil, and with a spoon, toss the pods in the bowl with the oil until each pod is completely covered. Now line a baking pan with unbleached parchment and place the okra pods in a single layer on the baking pan. Salt and pepper the okra to your taste. Recommended salt would be Himalayan pink salt or sea salt. Put the baking pan with the okra pods on it into the oven and in 20 minutes you will have delicious crunchy yet tender okra. The kitchen will have such a great aroma as the okra pods are cooking. The okra pods are best when eaten with your fingers and they complement a meal perfectly. They are perfectly salted with just the right amount of heat.
I recommend that you try this easy flavorful recipe. And if you have never tried to grow okra before, you should try. Okra makes a beautiful plant. With there gorgeous large yellow flowers.
Enjoy!
Roasted Okra
August 19, 2017
This is an easy way to prepare okra if you are in a hurry.
Persons
4
Ingredients
- 25+ Small Okra Pods
- 4 Tablespoons Organic Extra Virgin Avocado Oil
- Himalayan Pink Salt - to taste
- Tellicherry Black Pepper - to taste
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
- Wash okra and trim off stems - making sure not to cut into the pod
- Dry okra
- Put okra in bowl with Organic Extra Virgin Avocado Oil and coat completely
- Line baking pan with Parchment Paper
- Place okra in a single layer on the Stainless Steel baking Pan
- Sprinkle with Himalayan Pink Salt and Tellicherry Black Pepper
- Put in oven and roast for 20 minutes
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