Teaching an old cook new tricks

Say 'okra' in this part of Texas and the first dish which comes to mind is of the fried variety. Although there are many variations on the theme, okra pods, sliced crosswise, covered with cornmeal, salt and pepper, and fried in just enough oil to cover until golden brown, is the method of choice here. A distant second, is turing okra into a component for gumbo. That however takes considerably more time (hours) and fixin's (sausage, shrimp, tomatoes, onions, peppers, etc.)

But the other night, we were invited for hamburgers at a friend's house, and as we had a sack of okra, we took it along for the meal. Imagine my surprise when that child of the South suggested we grill some.

Really? Well, I can be a good guest--and I did prepare the rest of it for frying--so I watched the prep for grilled okra.

Long story short, I am now a convert. She skewered whole pods (they need to be slim), brushed them with olive oil, and generously shook on the Cajun seasoning. As the burgers cooked, the okra was turned a few times until it looked done. We slipped it off the skewer and bit.

Delicious!

Just one more food for which I can say: Why fry, when you can grill?*

*While this treatment went over well with the spouse, fried okra will not be falling off the menu.