Okra was one of the items available from Turtle Farm that was optional, meaning you had to request it if you wanted it, but there was no extra charge. I requested it because I had never tried it and was curious. I learned a lot about it just trying to find a recipe for it. The okra plant is in the mallow family (same as cotton and cocoa). The fruit has good levels of folate, calcium, vitamin C and magnesium. The name "okra" is of West African origin, but in other areas, the name sounds like "gumbo", so that's why the dish we call gumbo always has okra in it. Okra is a mucilaginous plant, which means it feels gooey/sticky when you cut it. This goo makes okra good for thickening stew and soups, like gumbo.
I wanted something "easy", so I chose fried a fried okra recipe with minimal ingredients. It was okay, but I wasn't partial to the corn meal flavor of the breading of the recipe I used. Maegan didn't like it at all, but Ethan ate more of it than anyone! If we get more okra, I'll probably try to make gumbo.
