Roasted Okra

Fried okra is a popular Southern dish, and I grew up eating it.  My mother always breaded the okra and then fried it, probably in Crisco.  Now I try to avoid fried foods and go for more healthful recipes. Dan likes stewed okra, but I don't like the slimy texture except in seafood gumbo it's okay.  So when I ran across this recipe for roasted okra I thought I would give it a try.

Friday night before we left on our trip we were grilling chicken, and I roasted the okra as a side dish. This recipe is from the News and Observer.


Roasted Okra
One pound of okra
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Coat okra with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Directions
Wash and pat dry the okra. Sprinkle the olive oil, salt and pepper on the okra and mix it up. Bake in a 450 degree oven for about 15 minutes on a cookie sheet. I line my baking sheet with parchment paper for easy clean up. You can add cherry tomatoes to the pan for extra flavor

Spread on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Roasted okra.

These were a bit disappointing.  They really didn't taste like fried okra.  And they were not crisp as I was expecting.  Dan liked this better than Patrick and I did. I think if I roast okra again I will cut it up the way my Mom did when she fried it.  That might make it crisper.  Or maybe I'll just stick with breading and frying it.