I used to make a game of buying a new vegetable each week at the grocery store. I think it’s fun to try new things and experiment with them. You might be delighted to discover how to eat more vegetables when you don’t like them. You can learn to love them.
Depending where you live, your local grocer may lack a wide variety. But, often they will order something special for you if you ask. I guess okra isn’t super popular where I live because I used to have to request it. These days it’s available in small quantities, but it often doesn’t look fresh. So I have to hunt for a few decent looking pods in the back of the basket if I want to buy some.
Why so few people buying the okra? I have heard some remark that they don’t like it because it’s slimy. My answer to that is, “It wasn’t cooked long enough if that was the case.” Yes, preparation matters and for some vegetables it simply means cooking it less or more in order to make it enjoyable.
For this dish, the wild rice takes about an hour to cook, so that’s the first thing I started. Then the corn because I like to roast it in the husk in the oven for 45 minutes after rinsing it with water.
Into the Skillet
Everything else goes into a skillet with some olive oil, starting with the sliced okra because I want to give it a head start. The seeds need to pop out and the goo inside needs to dry up. Then you can add the chopped onions, bell pepper, celery and garlic. Tomatoes near the end. I seasoned with French thyme, paprika and smoked paprika. Take it off the heat until everything else is ready to serve because shrimp only take a couple of minutes to cook. I seasoned them with garlic powder and then added to the vegetable mixture to cook quickly. Sprinkled a little gumbo file’ in there just because I had some and thought, why not?
Of course I always boil up some stock using the shrimp shells. I put that into the freezer if I don’t use it right away. Meanwhile that would give you a bit of liquid if you needed to add a touch of it to this dish.
Alternatively, you could make this with frozen okra and corn and canned tomatoes. It’s a quick and easy, healthy meal that’s also delicious…as long as you cook the okra long enough! I can help you learn how to eat more vegetables when you don’t like them. Which vegetables are you struggling with?
For a dish with similar ingredients, but with the addition of a roux, please read Creole Shrimp next.