1. Okra
I have been in the habit of trying new foods for about a year now. Generally I pick something at the grocery store, write its name down, and look up recipes on the net when I get home. Okra was one veggie that I did in reverse. I read about its nutrient value in a magazine, looked up and printed out recipes, and went to the grocery store, only to find out that they didn't carry it. I did some more research and found out that it is very popular in the Southern states of U.S.A.
When I went to Florida last may, I tried deep fried breaded okra as a side dish in a restaurant. It was good, but its preparation method was not part of my new healthy lifestyle... so I only ate it the one time. Two days ago, I was doing some grocery shopping for my daughter in Hamilton (a 1.5 hour drive south from where I live in Ontario, Canada) when I came across some okra in the produce section. I picked out 10 pods for my family to try. Even the cashier had to ask me what they were... she hadn't a clue... had to ask me how to spell it.
When researching cooking methods, there was all kinds of advice on how to cook the okra so that it wouldn't be slimy... ewwwww... this stuff gets slimy?... Now I'm really not sure about it. But I bought it, so I better try it... right?
I washed the okra. Dried it thoroughly. Cut off both ends. Drizzled a little lime juice on them. Fried them for about 20 minutes in my electric frying pan with a little Canola oil, some pepper, basil and tarragon (just because they're my favourite spices).
The end result was not slimy (I understand that's mostly because I did not slice the pods) and tasted alright. Just mediocre... no rave reviews from my family... they did politely eat them... and promptly informed me that they liked many other nutritious vegetables better... that we didn't need to add okra to our regulars list... or maybe even our ever again list!
2. Sweet Dumpling (Heart of Gold) Squash
So I thought we'd be super adventurous and try two new foods today... both the okra and sweet dumpling squash. I thought this squash looked inviting... both because of its stripey pattern and its unusual shape... these are just Thanksgiving decorations... right?... apparently not... they're for eating too!
This vegetable came with a bright pink sticker on the bottom with a recipe printed on it. Sounded good... we'll give it a try... saves me a step of having to hunt for a recipe... besides it's printed on the label so it's got to be good... you'd think... we have to disagree. While we were OK with the taste of the squash, I would definitely hunt for a different recipe. After cooking it for more than 1.5 hours the potatoes were still raw and the milk ran all over. Fortunately I had the foresight to precook the ground beef or I doubt any of it would have been safe to eat.
I will include the recipe from the label, just so that you know what NOT to make.
"Cut out stem end of squash and remove seeds. Fill cavity with diced potatoes, onion, hamburger, salt and pepper. Fill with milk. Set in roaster pan with 2 cm of water. Bake for 1 hour or until squash is soft. Top with cheese slice before removing from oven."
My husband ate the squash skin and all. The rest of use used a spoon to eat the fleshy part. Is it OK to eat the skin? Lots of fibre there!
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