Smothered Okra - Southern Okra and Tomatoes

A southern favorite, okra is sliced and cooked in bacon drippings, then stewed with Vidalia onion, garden tomatoes and a can of Rotel tomatoes for a little kick.

Smothered Okra and Tomatoes

Definitely another southern favorite for us veggie lovers that's made in a variety of ways depending on the household - though I'll betcha a dollar that soon as I post this link over on the Facebook page I'll get a few proverbial "yucks". There's always at least one person who feels a need to express their dislike of okra, one of those veggies folks seem to either love or hate. Seems there's not much of an in-between. Me? I happen to be a lover.

I like to start mine with bacon so that I can use the drippings to saute the okra first, followed by the onion - and when they are available, absolutely use sweet Vidalia onions. Okra can be fresh or frozen, it really doesn't matter and frankly I almost always have frozen since they are convenient to have on hand. With a very short shelf life, most folks who grow them, put at least some of them up that way anyway and I find frozen okra to be just as delicious, so use what you have access to.

I keep it pretty simple from there, tomatoes - fresh if you have 'em, canned and diced if not - and I don't bother with peeling them, a little bit of garlic and a few simple seasonings - a bit of salt and pepper, sugar and of course, my favorite Slap Ya Mama Cajun seasoning, though of course you can substitute what's available to you. I'm startin' to see Slap Ya Mama showing up mentioned on a few other blogs. I like to think that I started a trend there! It really is a very good general purpose Cajun seasoning and as y'all know, I use it a lot. One of our Facebook readers even found some way up in Oregon y'all! Now how about that.

I also like to add in a can of drained Rotel for the kick, but you can omit that if you prefer. Some folks even like to add in other veggies to their okra and tomatoes, like maybe a bit of green bell pepper or corn in their okra and tomatoes - kinda like I do my summer succotash.  As always, I say make it yours!

Are you a lover of okra too? What's your favorite way to eat it? I love it stewed like this, especially in the late summer, but I really love it deep fried the best, personally. Imagine that!

If you think this sounds yummy, I'd sure ♥ it if you'd click to pin it, tweet it, stumble it, or share it on Facebook to help spread the word - thanks!

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Recipe: Smothered Okra

©From the Kitchen of Deep South Dish

Prep time: 15 min |Cook time: 20 min |

Yield: About 4 to 6 servings

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Ingredients

• 3 slices of bacon
• 1 pound of okra, fresh or frozen, sliced
• 1-1/2 cups of chopped Vidalia or other sweet onion
• 2 large tomatoes, chopped
• 1 can of mild Rotel diced tomatoes, drained, optional
• 1 large clove of garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon of granulated sugar
• Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste 
• Cajun seasoning, like (Slap Ya Mama), to taste

Instructions

Heat a cast iron skillet over medium high heat and cut the bacon into the skillet. Cook until crisp, remove the bacon and set aside. Reduce heat to medium and add the sliced okra (if frozen you do not need to thaw) to the bacon drippings and stir fry, turning occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Add the onion and cook another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in the tomatoes, Rotel, garlic, sugar, salt, pepper, Cajun seasoning and reserved bacon. Give it a stir, cover and let cook for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until veggies are tender. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

Serve immediately. Very good as a side dish, or as a main course served over rice.

Source: http://deepsouthdish.com

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©Deep South Dish

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Posted by Mary on September 13, 2010

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