Seasonal Sensation: Okra & Tomato stew

Once again, I am on my soap box about the importance of transforming your children into veggie eaters, and how you can use the seasons to make the job a little easier. Summer is a great season for okra and tomatoes, but getting children (or even adults) to like okra can be sticky (pun intended). Tips: Take fresh okra and freeze it (raw) for a couple of hours before using it. Roasting or grilling it also seems to cut back on the sticky goo that tends to turn people off from this green wonder. If you can't beat the goo, use it! Tossing okra into soups and stews can help add body to the broth because the okra goo mixes in and thickens it slightly. Below is a dish I grew up eating, and it is certainly a southern classic. It can be made vegetarian or not, and is fairly inexpensive. It can be a side dish, or you can make it a full on main course soup (see notes at the bottom). Whatever you do, enjoy the nutritious bounties of summer with okra and tomatoes!

Okra and Tomato Stew (serves about 4)

2 T olive oil (or 4 slices of bacon, chopped)
2 cups sliced (rounds) okra (fresh or frozen)
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 can/15 oz diced tomatoes with juice
Salt and black pepper


Directions

1. In a large pot, warm oil over med-high heat. If using bacon, sautee the bacon until most of the fat is rendered, then remove the pieces from the pot (the bacon should be brown, but not burned. Now you have a little snack!). Add onions and a pinch of salt. Sautee the onions until translucent.
2. Add the garlic, okra and two pinches of salt. You will start to see the okra release it's sticky goo, and that's okay. It will be useful later! Sautee everything for about a minute, making sure the okra goo doesn't start to burn to the pot.
3. Add the tomatoes with their juice and scrape the bottom of the pot to dislodge any okra goo that may have stuck. Add a couple of pinches of salt and about a 1/2 t black pepper (or more to your taste). Let simmer for 10 minutes. Serve warm. If you'd like (and if you didn't eat all of it), you can garnish with the little bacon bits you made earlier.

NOTES:

To make this more of a main dish entree, you can add cooked, cubed chicken at the end and let it warm through in the broth, or follow the first step, then add raw chicken during the second step. Make sure the heat is stil med-high so you can get just a little sear on the chicken. Chicken thighs would be a great, economical cut to use, and would impart tons of flavor. Follow the rest of the directions, but add another 5 minutes onto the simmer time to make sure the chicken is cooked through.

To make this more of a soup, you can add 2 cups of either chicken stock, tomato juice or water when you add the tomatoes.

This dish is great with rice (fake or real). You can also add a squeeze of lemon juice a the end before eating to brighten everything.

For a more italian style dish, add 1 t dried basil and 1 t dried parsley when you add the tomatoes. They add a lovely sweet herbal note. If you're adding the herbs, I would suggest adding at least 1/2 cup-1 cup of water, chicken stock or tomato juice.