Healthy Okra Recipes

You may not think to combine olives and okra, let alone throw olives in your pickle jar. But trust: get your hands on the nicest okra possible and tuck it in a jar with briny olives, summer basil and a mean pickling liquid--you'll see what the fuss is about with this quick preserve. Speaking of pickling liquid, this recipe calls for rice vinegar, which has less than 5% acidity--the minimum for safe canning--so these pickles are for the refrigerator only. Chop and scatter them over roast chicken, toss into salads, spoon onto cheese plates or eat 'em straight from the jar.

The classic Bloody Mary is an easy, go-to brunch cocktail meant to jolt you back into reality with spice and booze after a late night out. "Hair of the dog" is a tried-and-true treatment for those droopy-eyed mornings, but spike your Bloody Mary with a lively jumble of these cider vinegar pickles for a real cure-all that will open those eyes. Green cherry tomatoes are especially fun in this mix because they end up looking like green olives.

Okra retains a delightful tender-crisp texture when cooked in a packet. Here, it teams up with shrimp, tomatoes and Cajun seasoning for a satisfying meal with a taste of New Orleans. Serve with grilled whole-grain bread or polenta.

This slow-cooker gumbo recipe skips the fat when browning the flour and swaps in turkey sausage and brown rice, resulting in a healthier dish with the classic Creole taste.

To avoid the sliminess that turns many people off okra, Indians cook it over high heat in a lot of oil. In this healthy okra recipe, we get similar results with less oil using a nonstick pan. For an authentic taste, use a hot, smoky Indian chili powder, such as reshampatti. Serve with brown basmati rice and yogurt.

In the South, scoring fresh-picked okra at the farmers' market is as exciting as discovering the ripest heirloom tomato. In this healthy tomato salad recipe, addictive roasted okra fries add crunch to balance the creamy dressing and soft tomatoes.

Comfort food with a Southern accent, this dish was inspired by our friend, Jimmo, who ate it growing up in South Carolina. Serve over brown rice or Quick Cheese Grits.

These awesome habanero-spiced pickled okra are the perfect crunchy treat to turn anyone on to the beauty of this underappreciated vegetable.

In this easy vegetable side dish, okra stays crisp--not slimy--when sautéed quickly with a blend of Indian spices. Serve with curry-grilled chicken or fish and a yogurt sauce.

Chock-full of shrimp, chicken, sausage, okra and tomatoes, this flavorful stew is a staple in Louisiana. Make it a meal: Serve with Real Cornbread.

This bean and okra recipe is a classic Southern side dish perfect for potlucks. Adding the okra toward the end of cooking guarantees a tender--not mushy--texture.

Colorful red bell pepper and thinly sliced okra add an exciting element in this cast-iron skillet cornbread recipe. Serve the cornbread in wedges alongside chili, baked beans or barbecued chicken or pork.

The fire of the grill creates a tender texture while infusing the okra with subtle heat in this easy okra recipe. You can adjust the level of spiciness in this side dish by choosing chiles that are either tame, incendiary or anywhere in between.

Leftovers make this chicken gumbo an absolute breeze. The only prep you'll need to do is to dice a bell pepper and slice some okra if you're using fresh. That's it! If you don't have leftover chicken and sauce from Wine & Tomato Braised Chicken, you can use 2 cups shredded cooked chicken and 2 cups canned diced tomatoes instead of the leftover sauce.

A taste of summer, Louisiana-style. Serve this zesty sauté with grilled chicken or fish. When fresh corn is not in season, substitute frozen.

Lean chicken breast and a small amount of spicy andouille sausage along with okra and plenty of other vegetables are at the heart of this version of gumbo, the Cajun stew traditionally served on Good Friday. With significantly less fat and sodium plus loads of vegetables, you can feel good about eating this gumbo any day of the year.

This healthy fish curry recipe showcases the complex flavors of Singapore. Soak up the sauce with rice noodles or brown rice. For eco-friendly fish choices, visit seafoodwatch.org.

Gumbo, a hearty stew made with anything from sausage or duck to rabbit or seafood, starts with a roux cooked until it turns dark and nutty, giving the stew recipe its signature earthy flavor. This crab and shrimp gumbo recipe comes from Eula Mae Doré, who was the cook at the Commissary on Avery Island, home to the Tabasco company. She learned Cajun cooking by watching, rather than from cookbooks. Serve with brown rice. (Recipe adapted from Eula Mae's Cajun Kitchen by Eula Mae Doré and Marcelle R. Bienvenu; Harvard Common Press, 2007.)

Purchased Cajun or Creole seasoning flavors both the catfish and vegetables in this 30-minute dinner. This dish is best with fresh vegetables, but we were pleasantly surprised at how well it turned out with frozen okra and corn. Serve with cheese grits and a green salad.

This quick and easy okra and chickpea stew is full of Moroccan flavors. The name “tagine” refers to the two-part, cone-shaped casserole dish in which countless slow-cooked Moroccan dishes are prepared. You don't need to prepare this in a tagine dish--it works well in a large saucepan--but if you have one, here's a chance to use it.