On our quest for better health, Greg and I have been trying a number of new vegetables. For the most part we have been happy with our new discoveries, but tonight was definitely a failure. We've never tried okra and had no idea would it would taste like. While it was cooking I thought it smelled "Green".
Greg dished up first and ate all of the okra on his plate while I happily ate my delicious Tilapia. Greg asked if I had tried the okra yet and I said no. He didn't want to tell me what it tasted like or if he liked it, so I knew something bad was coming. I took a bite and started chewing. The flavor was fine, but in the few seconds of chewing, somehow the vegetable in my mouth turned into a big mouthful of snot. Gross! It was so disgusting! I had to jump up and spit it out to keep myself from gagging. I didn't even try to swallow.
(This is a picture of some okra slime. It happens just by cutting into the fruit once. Sick.)
I'm not sure who decided okra is an eatable food, but I think they were crazy. It reminded me of those "snot fish" we saw on Dirty Jobs and MythBusters. Those fish are a type of eel that continuously produce slimy snot as a defense. And that's exactly what happened with the okra when I started chewing it. Gross gross!
If you happen to like okra, please comment and explain yourself. Maybe you have a good recipe that keeps the snot thing from happening...?
On a positive note, you may have noticed I mentioned my delicious Tilapia. We've tried a few recipes that were all good, but this is the one we made tonight:
3 tablespoons coarsely chopped mint leaves
1 small garlic clove, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
Pinch red pepper flakes
2 tilapia fillets (about 1 pound total), halved
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Some extra virgin olive oil
Some lemon juice (Oil and lemon juice were not measured. We just poured it until it looked good.)
We mixed up all the spices and made a kind of soup by adding some lemon juice and the olive oil in a bowl. Then we brushed the mixture onto the fish and baked it at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. You can flip it halfway through if you want. If your fish is thicker it might need to cook longer. Our fish was really thin on parts and really thick in the middle, so it had to cook longer.
Sorry, I didn't get a picture. I found this online in case you were wondering what raw tilapia looks like. When it's done baking, it should be white (not see-through at all) and it should flake easily. When I took it out the first time I tried to cut a thick part and it was kind of chewy and hard to cut. That means it's not done.
After we got over the grossness of the okra, I steamed some broccoli to have with our fish instead. Definitely a good choice. I think my favorite vegetables to have are steamed broccoli and cauliflower mixed.
What are your favorite vegetables and how do you like them? (Raw or cooked in a special way?)
8 comments:
I've heard about okra being slimy! I have no desire to try it. I'd rather eat a ton of broccoli and celery raw before chewing okra. Oh - and I like most of my vegetables steamed.
I've only ever heard of fried okra - which probably defeats the healthy vegetable part. Never tried it - not thinking I will. Thanks for the warning.
I love broccoli - steamed. But one of my favorites is asparagus, I like to "roast" it (I think that is what you'd call it) - I lay it flat on a baking sheet, drizzle a little olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper - I roll them around to get them evenly seasoned - you don't need very much olive oil. And then place in the oven at 400 degrees for about 5-7 minutes depending on how thick the stalks are. I like them still crisp. Yummy. I could eat the whole pan. But it is Kaylee's favorite too, so I have to share.
I had okra once. It was deep fat fried, which I suppose gets rid of the slime. However, deep fat fried vegetables taste awful, so its a loser either way. If you like okra, you'll love squid!
Okra is what you make your kid eat when he says a bad word.
I LOVE fried okra, when it's cooked well. That's the key, it has to be cooked just right and then it's amazing. I actually like uncooked okra as well, but I guess it helps that I grew up in texas where everyone has okra. PS. I don't like squid...
Never had it...probably never will. I think asparagus is my favorite green veggie. Otherwise, I pretty much LOVE squash. Has to be fixed with butter and brown sugar, though.
: ) That okra stuff sounds pretty bad! Maybe Kirsten's mom knows how to make it taste good?
hahahah that is so funny! I never had okra and I think I'll skip trying it. Thanks for trying it for me. hahahahah
I will also skip the okra...I will never forget your mouthful of snot... we got green kale from the farm the other day. A new unknown green. lightly cooked it in a little olive oil. it was very good, Pat and I enjoyed it. mild broccoli flavor to me. I may try the red kale? seems I did before and didn't care for it. Pat's grilling tuna tonight. His goal is to make it not taste like fish!
Super easy to make okra not slimy. Roll it in EVOO, sprinkle with sea salt, grill 'til it has toasty grill marks on both sides. Ours doesn't even get cold before it's gone.
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