Sweet and Spicy Fried Okra

 

2-3 Servings if eaten alone, if eaten with rice, make it 4.

 

I wanted something like orange chicken, spicy and sweet, so I figured I could make something up that might do that for me with what I had in the house... Okra was the medium, and I dare say it was a success!

 

Farmers' Market

 

12 Okra, cut into 1/2" rounds

2 large Garlic Cloves, chopped

1/2 Zucchini, cut into 1/2" pieces

1 small Bell Pepper, cut into 1/4-1/2" pieces

1/2 bunch Kale, chopped (any leafy green would work well here, chard, spinach, etc)

 

Co-Op

 

2 tbs Whole Wheat Flour

4 tbs Whole Milk

1 tbs Chia Seeds (optional)

1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes

1 tbs Olive Oil (if needed to cook up the other veggies if you don't have any grapeseed oil left in the pan)

1/2 cup Grapeseed Oil (truthfully you can use any oil with a high smoke point)

2 tbs Raspberry (or any flavor) Jam

Salt and pepper to taste

 

 

2tbs Water from my kitchen :)

 

To make the fried okra, combine flour, milk, water, chia seeds, red pepper flakes, and a pinch of salt in a small bowl, forming a goey batter the okra will be placed in. Once the okra is cut into 1/2" rounds, put them in the batter. The batter will be thick, but should cover each piece of okra with a pretty good amount if you stir them around in it; use enough batter so you don't see the green color of the okra or the defined shape. Heat up the oil on medium high in a small saucepan (I don't check for temps with a thermometer, but you totally can. Google temps for frying, I'm being lazy, sorry) until  you see the oil kinda ripple in the pan on it's own. Drop a bit of batter in, the amount the size of a pea, and see if it starts floating right away. If it does, you are ready to fry. I used a fork to get out batter covered pieces from the bowl and put about 6 in the pan to fry at a time. Cook them until the batter gets crunchy and darkens on one side, about 2 minutes, then flip the pieces over, and cook an additional 1-2minutes until the other side is cooked too. Pull them out of the oil and place them on a plate or a metal strainer (you won't have tons of excess oil drain off if you're frying them at the right temp), keep frying away until they're all done.

 

Then, in the same pan, you can add the garlic, bell pepper, zucchini, and kale. Cook them until they soften then add the raspberry jam and heat it up so it coats everything. You are ready to eat when you mix the fried okra with the other goodies. I ate it "as is" because I was in a hurry, but would have thoroughly enjoyed this sweet, sour, and spicy treat with brown rice.

 

I'll for sure utilize the batter idea with other veggies too. Mmmmm, fried tasty goodness.