Sara’s Cornmeal-Crusted Okra

Name: Sara’s Cornmeal-Crusted Okra
Yield: serves 4 to 6
Ingredients: 6 tablespoons olive oil; 2 pounds okra, sliced into 1/2-inch pieces, stems trimmed; Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper; 1/3 cup fine yellow cornmeal

By Virginia Willis

December 9, 2011

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Photo by Chelsea Kyle

My mother-in-law is a wonderful woman, very sweet, kind, and generous. Her late husband was the cook in the family, and even she admits she is not much of a cook. She experienced a little culinary serendipity when sauteing okra one night. She put a little too much oil in the pan, so she added a bit of cornmeal to soak up the excess oil. It was wonderful, a modified version of fried okra that is not only somewhat healthier than deep-fried okra, but also less labor-intensive. Maybe she is just bluffing about not being a cook, after all.

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