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Dinner Tonight: Okra, Corn, and Tomatoes

Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, September 17, 2007 at 4:00 PM

Most of the okra I put down is pickled, which means A) I don’t have it that often and B) I haven’t the slightest idea what to do with it raw.

I know about its powerful thickening properties and that it is used a lot in Southern cooking. So I when I brought home a nice bag of the stuff from the farmers' market, I pulled out my 1985 edition of the Courier-Journal Kentucky Cookbook (it’s a long story), and looked for some recipes for this interesting vegetable.

The one I found is apparently from 1946 and written by a woman (hopefully) named Cissy Gregg. She says: "The combination of okra, tomatoes and corn either charms people to the point where they'll roll their eyes around in their heads at the very thought of it, or it brings forth a grimace." Count me in the former group.

Okra, Corn and Tomatoes

- serves 4 -

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup onions, finely chopped
1 pound okra, stem removed and chopped
2 1/2 cups tomatoes, chopped
1 cob of corn, kernels removed
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon curry powder
2 teaspoons brown sugar

Procedure

1. Melt the butter over medium heat and add the onions. Cook until translucent.

2. Add the okra and cook for 5 minutes. When done, add all the ingredients but the corn. Cover the pan and simmer until okra is nice and tender, about 5 to 10 minutes.

3. Toss in the corn with a minute or two to go, just to warm it.

3 Comments | Tags: corn, okra, tomatoes, vegetables, vegetarian

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