Don't Slime Me

When I was picking up my daughter from day care, the director and I began discussing a favorite market of ours nearby. DePiero's is an amazing market that is filled with seasonal produce most of which is grown locally. The director told me she loves DePiero's because she can get good okra there year round. Okra is one of those vegetables that I see at the market often, but have never bought. The number of items on that list is certainly dwindling, but okra remained. So I asked this woman for some simple okra cooking instructions, and the recipe below is my interpretation of her idea.

Ingredients
20 pieces of okra. Look for okra that is bright green, firm but not hard, and no longer than 4 inches long. I'm no okra expert, but according to many online sources 4 inches is the limit before the okra has been left to grow for too long. What happens after that, I have no idea.
3 vine ripened tomatoes
2 fresh ears of corn
1 small sweet onion
olive oil

Directions
I found that there was enough time to prep the next vegetable while each step was cooking. There's no need to prep everything at the beginning. Season lightly with salt and pepper after adding each vegetable.

1. Heat a large saute pan over medium heat. Add 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil. While the pan and oil heat up, cut the onion into a medium dice. Add the onion to the hot oil and saute until transparent.

2. While onion cooks slice the okra into 1/4-1/2 inch cylinders. Add okra to the pan. It will be a bit slimy, don't be afraid! Stir occasionally.

3. Cut the kernels from the ears of corn. When okra is starting to look a bit darker and feels slightly tender when pressed, add corn to the pan. Stir.

4. Cut tomatoes into bit sized pieces. When color of corn has darkened slightly, add tomatoes to the pan. Stir and taste to check seasoning.

Done. The slime from the okra helps hold all of the small pieces of corn and onion together. I had the leftovers with pieces of a cut up chicken cutlet and it was an awesome summer lunch. I'm on the lookout for more easy okra recipes, but I think I might just have to bite the bullet and make some gumbo. I'll keep you posted.