Okra Pilau For Dinner Tonight

I am making this okra recipe tonight!  Last summer I let you know of my obsession  with okra. For an okra review: click here.

Okra Pilau

Yield: 4 servings

8 bacon slices, diced
11/2 cups sliced fresh okra*
1 large onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
11/2 cups uncooked long-grain rice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cups water or chicken stock

Cook bacon in a large skillet until crisp; remove bacon, reserving 2 tablespoons drippings in skillet.

Sauté okra, onion, and bell pepper in hot drippings over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until tender. Stir in rice and next 3 ingredients; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until water is absorbed and rice is tender. Remove from heat; stir in bacon. Let stand 5 minutes.

You can use any variety of okra (preferably from your garden) for this recipe that Tim says will make okra lovers of us all.

Red Velvet Okra will be in my skillet tonight.  I love it’s color even though the okra turns green when cooked.

You can’t eat Okra leaves but how lovely they are to have in your garden. Harvesting Okra every day requires your careful attention and looking in and around the whole plant and under every leaf to find Okra that may be hiding.  if you let it go an extra day, you end up with giant Okra good for drying and seed saving but not much else.

For the healthy benefits of okra including a hair rinse recipe, read this.

Ok now, all this about Okra is persuading me to get out in the garden and start picking.  Hope you are, too.

Ann